{"id":290436,"date":"2023-09-19T02:05:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T02:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=290436"},"modified":"2023-09-19T02:05:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T02:05:56","slug":"the-sledge-that-had-leota-the-motor-blowing-up-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/the-sledge-that-had-leota-the-motor-blowing-up-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The sledge that had Leota the motor blowing up for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Moses \u2018The Motor\u2019 Leota reckons it might be the first time he\u2019s ever run hot. And of course Spencer Leniu wants to see more of it.<\/p>\n

Leota, who began his days in Penrith\u2019s juniors covered in concrete from his day job as a brickie\u2019s labourer, dominated the first 20 minutes of last year\u2019s grand final with a series of heavy hits against the Eels\u2019 big-bodied pack.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what happened,\u201d Leota laughed ahead of Friday\u2019s preliminary final against Melbourne and man mountain Nelson Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, that might be the first time ever for me, I went a bit red. [Fonua-Blake] just pushed me a little bit, didn\u2019t even say that much. I don\u2019t know why, but it sort of tipped me over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t repeat it, we were just talking shit to each other. A little bit of \u2018your run, come on\u2019.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sparks fly between Moses Leota and Addin Fonua-Blake.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NRL Imagery<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cThat 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\u2019s been one of the best front-rowers in the game and my game is just run hard, tackle hard, so that\u2019s what we were doing, with a little bit extra.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leota\u2019s verbal battle with Fonua-Blake was something more in line with Leniu\u2019s fiery approach to the game, which he will take to the Roosters next year in pursuit of a regular starting spot.<\/p>\n

Kiwi enforcer James Fisher-Harris is rightly lauded as one of the game\u2019s best front-rowers, but Penrith made Leota\u2019s place in their pecking order clear with a three-year extension earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Leniu hailed the softly spoken 28-year-old as \u201cthe most underrated prop in the NRL\u201d and unsurprisingly encouraged Leota to embrace more of his own fire and brimstone approach.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Moses Leota celebrates Penrith\u2019s 2022 grand final win.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NRL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a massive mentor for me,\u201d Leniu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely one of the most in-form props but you never hear about him that way. I think he\u2019d like it like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoses and Fish [Fisher-Harris], they\u2019re on the same vitamins, the same protein shakes, and when you wrestle them, man, it\u2019s like wrestling straight rock. I try and give it to them and Moses just smashes me.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s from the area like a lot of us and you don\u2019t see it in him often. But that \u2018never back down\u2019 mentality is in Moses and it came out there with Fonua-Blake. It was cool to see from him. More of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Leota is happy to go toe-to-toe with the game\u2019s biggest and meanest when needed.<\/p>\n

Even if daily meditation has been key to his consistency throughout Penrith\u2019s two premiership wins and this year\u2019s bid for a third.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get my meditation and a few breathing exercises in every day, I\u2019ll always do it before training,\u201d Leota said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just centres me at the start of every day and then on game day I\u2019ll carve out some more time for it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the NRL Grand Final Exclusive Live and Free on Channel 9 and <\/i><\/b>9Now<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Moses \u2018The Motor\u2019 Leota reckons it might be the first time he\u2019s ever run hot. And of course Spencer Leniu wants to see more of it. Leota, who began his days in Penrith\u2019s juniors covered in concrete from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe sledge that had Leota the motor blowing up for first time - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/the-sledge-that-had-leota-the-motor-blowing-up-for-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The sledge that had Leota the motor blowing up for first time - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. 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