Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Moses ‘The Motor’ Leota reckons it might be the first time he’s ever run hot. And of course Spencer Leniu wants to see more of it.
Leota, who began his days in Penrith’s juniors covered in concrete from his day job as a brickie’s labourer, dominated the first 20 minutes of last year’s grand final with a series of heavy hits against the Eels’ big-bodied pack.
Against the Warriors in week one of the finals, he matched a similar set of power-packed shots with some lip service as Addin Fonua-Blake got under his skin, cutting loose after multiple collisions with the Tongan Test star at Blue Bet Stadium two weeks ago.
“I don’t know what happened,” Leota laughed ahead of Friday’s preliminary final against Melbourne and man mountain Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
“Honestly, that might be the first time ever for me, I went a bit red. [Fonua-Blake] just pushed me a little bit, didn’t even say that much. I don’t know why, but it sort of tipped me over.
“I won’t repeat it, we were just talking shit to each other. A little bit of ‘your run, come on’.
Sparks fly between Moses Leota and Addin Fonua-Blake.Credit: NRL Imagery
“That was all it was, but I wanted to get stuck into him and he was the same. It was good fun and a good battle. He’s been one of the best front-rowers in the game and my game is just run hard, tackle hard, so that’s what we were doing, with a little bit extra.”
Leota’s verbal battle with Fonua-Blake was something more in line with Leniu’s fiery approach to the game, which he will take to the Roosters next year in pursuit of a regular starting spot.
Kiwi enforcer James Fisher-Harris is rightly lauded as one of the game’s best front-rowers, but Penrith made Leota’s place in their pecking order clear with a three-year extension earlier this year.
Leniu hailed the softly spoken 28-year-old as “the most underrated prop in the NRL” and unsurprisingly encouraged Leota to embrace more of his own fire and brimstone approach.
Moses Leota celebrates Penrith’s 2022 grand final win.Credit: NRL Photos
“He’s been a massive mentor for me,” Leniu said.
“He’s definitely one of the most in-form props but you never hear about him that way. I think he’d like it like that.
“Moses and Fish [Fisher-Harris], they’re on the same vitamins, the same protein shakes, and when you wrestle them, man, it’s like wrestling straight rock. I try and give it to them and Moses just smashes me.
“He’s from the area like a lot of us and you don’t see it in him often. But that ‘never back down’ mentality is in Moses and it came out there with Fonua-Blake. It was cool to see from him. More of it.”
For his part, Leota is happy to go toe-to-toe with the game’s biggest and meanest when needed.
Even if daily meditation has been key to his consistency throughout Penrith’s two premiership wins and this year’s bid for a third.
“I get my meditation and a few breathing exercises in every day, I’ll always do it before training,” Leota said.
“It just centres me at the start of every day and then on game day I’ll carve out some more time for it too.”
Watch the NRL Grand Final Exclusive Live and Free on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
