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Leilua fires off new shot at Tigers following dumping

The war path against his former club continues. 👇

Published by
Scott Pryde

Former Wests Tigers' centre Joseph Leilua has fired off yet another verbal barrage at his former club.

The Tigers finished in the bottom four this season, marking a full decade since the club has last played finals.

Michael Maguire's position as coach was rumoured to be under plenty of pressure, but in the end, the club decided to back him moving into the 2022 season following an internal review.

That comes with Tim Sheens returning to the club as a director of football, but none of those decisions have stopped Leilua from trashing the club.

In a Fox Sports interview, Leilua said no one spoke up at the club, and he got in trouble for doing so.

It comes as he prepares for a boxing debut against Chris Heighington.

“I am a person where I’ve come to clubs and you speak up when something is wrong – and there were plenty of things going wrong at that club,” Leilua said.

“I spoke up and it kind of like, got me in trouble.

“When I played in Canberra, we all spoke up, didn’t matter if you played two games, one game, zero games if you trained with us in pre-season you had a say in the team…but we didn’t have that at the Wests Tigers.

“Nobody really spoke up and everyone was kind of hesitant to lose their position in the team, where I was different, I came from a club where everyone spoke up and I always spoke up which unfortunately got me to where I am now."

Leilua, who once dubbed himself the best centre in the NRL during his time with the Canberra Raiders, also took a shot at Maguire, saying he wouldn't listen to players with the feel at the Tigers being completely different to what he left in the nation's capital.

Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire (Image: NRL.com)

“(Stuart) was like the person where if you see something, you talk about it, everyone spoke up so that’s where I thought I was at with the club, you speak up and that’s how you got the best out of each other," Leilua said.

“When I got to Wests Tigers it was totally different, it was everything he (Maguire) wanted and I am the person who will do it your way, and did it, then it wasn’t working so I had to speak up and that’s a part of who I am, I won’t let something go on for so long if it’s not working.”

Leilua's stint at the Tigers was a failed one, playing just 21 games in two years despite being a marquee signing for the club. He had previously played 59 games for the Roosters, 54 for the Knights and 91 for the Raiders.

His NRL career is seemingly over, with no bites from other clubs and reports he will take up a deal in rugby union.

He would finish with 225 games to his name at the age of just 29.

Published by
Scott Pryde