Former Canberra Raiders star Joey Leilua will make his Australian comeback next year after signing a deal to play in the Illawarra Rugby League competition.
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Leilua, the former Samoan international, has signed a deal to play for Dapto as they chase their first title since 2016.
The 31-year-old has been playing in England for the Featherstone Rovers for the past two years, but left the club after it failed to earn promotion to the Super League.
He's still young enough to make an impact in the NRL, but his form dipped in his final two years in Australia at the Wests Tigers after leaving the Raiders at the end of 2019.
Leilua played 225 games in the NRL, starting at the Sydney Roosters before moving to Newcastle, then Canberra and finishing at the Tigers.
Canaries coach Blake Wallace was excited to see his star recruit in action.
"It's a big signing for the club," he said. "We're excited to have a player of Joey's calibre jump on board. We feel he's going to be a really good asset to the club and I'm excited to work with him."
Wallace said Dapto player Pita Godinet alerted the Canaries that his good mate Leilua was without a club for 2024.
"Pita gave us his number, we called him and fortunately we were able to secure Joey's services. It was a good result," he said.
The 31-year-old Leilua played in the centres for most of his NRL career but Wallace indicated his latest recruit would most probably play closer to middle for the Canaries.
"We're sort of looking to move him in a little bit closer to the middle, but we'll see where he best fits in throughout the pre-season," the coach said. "But I don't think he'll be in the centres.
"We'll play around with a few things there and see how he feels and where he best fits into the team."
Leilua's signature comes hot on the heels of Aaron Gray also re-signing for the Canaries for season 2024.
He starred in a Dapto outfit which started the season slowly but then went on a giant-killing run only to drop their penultimate game to Corrimal in the Cougars' only win of the season.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
