Rugby league immortal Andrew Johns says Wests Tigers centre Joey Leilua "has a month to save his career" after being axed following a disappointing start to the 2021 season.
Leilua, who is on a deal worth around $700,000 per year, has been dumped by Michael Maguire for the Tigers' clash with the Knights on Sunday.
The former Dally M Centre of the Year was once considered among the best outside backs in the game, especially between 2016-2018 when he scored 35 tries from 73 appearances with the Canberra Raiders.
But after being shown the door following a disappointing 2019 season with Canberra, the 29-year-old has struggled to restore his reputation at the Tigers. Leilua's first season at Concord didn't go as planned, reduced to just 14 games in part due to a four-match suspension for a high shot on Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards.
He admitted he struggled with life in the bubble last season, finding it difficult to be separated from his Canberra-based family for long periods and using junk food as a coping mechanism.
Leilua declared he'd lost weight and was focused on rejuvenating his career coming into this season, however Johns said those words hadn't been backed up on the field, backing Maguire's call to send him back to reserve grade.
"He needed to be dropped," Johns told Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth.
"There was no urgency. That edge had no talk, no desire.
"I think Joey's got a month to save his career.
"We spoke in the off-season about how he's a lost a heap of weight, I don't see that he's fit."
Johns made particular mention of Leilua's lack of effort on the Tigers' left edge defence when he was caught, alongside his brother Luciano, walking as Brett Morris and James Tedesco combined for a try during the Roosters' Round Two win over the Tigers.
"That one there shocked me," Johns added.
"Him and his brother just turned. There was no urgency to get back.
"Look - walk, walk, walk and jog, jog, jog. If they sprinted they could've gotten to the threat.
"I think he has a month to save his career, he's got to go back and work on his game, desire and fitness.
"It's going to be tough, he's going to go back to Western Suburbs - playing in front of 400, 500 people.
"The talent's there, you can see how talented he is and we've seen it during his career, but at the moment he doesn't look interested."
Fellow rugby league great, Brad Fittler, agreed with Johns' assessment about Leilua's lack of desire.
"Effort off the ball is just not there," Fittler said.
"That fight, the desperation, the desire to stop tries, the desire to help teammates - just not there."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/andrew-johns-says-wests-tigers-centre-joey-leilua-has-one-month-to-save-his-career/099ea028-fea5-4b91-accc-b0dfdabf6a1b
0 Comments