Joey Leilua is ready embrace all the north of England has to offer ahead of a two-year deal with Championship side Featherstone.
The 29-year-old centre has endured a turbulent few months featuring a messy exit from the Tigers, a hospitalisation due to COVID-19 and preparing for an unexpected boxing bout.
Leilua takes on former NRL player Chris Heighington on the undercard to Paul Gallen’s fight with Darcy Lussick in Sydney on December 22.
While most football coaches would prefer their players leave the boxing for after their careers, Leilua said Featherstone boss Brian McDermott is keen for him to keep it up, even with a January 31 season-opener on the horizon.
“Brian said, ‘As long as you’re doing boxing you can come over next year,’” Leilua told Sporting News.
“The comp starts in late-January, so I’ll be hitting the ground running.”
Leilua only played seven first-grade games in 2021, not travelling to Queensland when the competition relocated due the pandemic.
Then followed an ugly split from the Tigers, the whole situation leaving Leilua feeling “sad and depressed.”
Now even a nasty bout of COVID-19 couldn’t douse the two-time Dally M Centre of the Year’s new-found fire – for both boxing and footy.
“I had eight days in hospital. The first four days were tough, real tough,” he said.
“It got me real sick and I just battled through it and then as soon as I got out the first thing that came to my mind was boxing.
“Boxing has mentally kind of reset me for footy again and I just can’t wait to get back out there enjoy my time with my family over there and experience the life in England.”
Leilua, who played five seasons with the Raiders, said a former teammate’s words have him confident of dealing with the conditions in Yorkshire.
“It’s kind of like Canberra, it’s cold there, I think I can handle it in England,” he said.
“Johnny Bateman, when he came to Canberra, said, ‘It’s not cold like this in England.’ So I should be sweet.”
Leilua, who has played 225 NRL games including two grand finals, isn’t getting ahead of himself about what the future holds, hoping to let his footy do the talking, but he is keen to lace up the gloves again.
“It’s given me direction. I’m going to enjoy my time there and whatever happens after that happens,” he said.
“I’m just going to go there, play good footy and see what happens. But I always want to do boxing. Hopefully I’ll come back next year and do another set of boxing.”
As for his bout on the ‘Xmas Bash’ card, Leilua reckons he has an idea how it might play out.
“I know Heighington’s going to be running around. I’m going to have to chase, I won’t be chasing too hard,” Leilua added.
“I’ll try and get the knockout but if I can’t well see how I go with the decision.”