Spencer Leniu can be a loose cannon on the field and makes no attempt to hide his contempt for the media.
Take these comments from a podcast the Roosters firebrand did last year with childhood mate and Tigers star Terrell May.
“That’s one of the lowest jobs,” Leniu said of journalists. “I reckon they’re on par with the people who give [parking] tickets.
“I feel like they only come out when things are bad. Controversy sells and I know they know that. That burns me inside.
“Then they’ll be the first ones there to cut you down when you’re already down. They’re not f—ing advocates for mental health.”
It came as little surprise, then, that the Roosters sheltered Leniu from an all-squad media session at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday morning ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster finals match against minor premiers Penrith at CommBank Stadium.
While almost every other big-name Rooster happily mingled with waiting reporters, the most newsworthy player in the squad was nowhere to be seen.
Leniu was at the centre of a remarkable physical exchange with South Sydney enforcer Keaon Koloamatangi last week, which former Roosters Cooper Cronk and Braith Anasta labelled “stupid”.
After throwing the ball away and threatening to knock Koloamatangi’s block off – conceding a penalty in the process – Leniu is keeping a low profile this week when fans would love to know what was going through his head.
There is also the complicating factor that the Roosters are reportedly considering releasing Leniu a year early from his contract to allow him to take up a deal with Parramatta next season.
Coaches don’t want their players saying inflammatory things into microphones, particularly ahead of massive games like these. But whether such comments have any bearing on performance remains to be seen.
Leniu’s absence came a day after two of South Sydney’s most media-shy stars, Latrell Mitchell and David Fifita, fronted the cameras to talk up week one of the NRL finals, which begin on Friday.
The NRL requires clubs to make 17 players available to media each week during finals, but exceptions are granted.
Interviews with Leniu have been sparse since the Roosters’ trip to Las Vegas in 2024, where he was suspended for eight matches for a racial slur directed at Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam. Leniu apologised and said he meant no malice, but the prop’s relationship with the media has been complicated since.
He was later involved in a heated public confrontation with Johnathan Thurston following a Roosters-Broncos match at Suncorp Stadium, upset by some of the league great’s comments surrounding the Mam incident.
Leniu broke a year-long silence at Magic Round in May and, to be fair, has chatted a handful of times with print reporters after matches. There was also a verbal stoush in the Suncorp Stadium sheds this year with News Corp reporter Peter Badel.
A talented footballer who grew up in New Zealand, where he was told his two jobs were to run hard and tackle hard, Leniu moved to the western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt when he was 10.
He is abrasive on the field, relaxed off it, and couldn’t care less what critics think. Yet teammates adore him, lauding his generosity and the care he shows those around him.
“I see no problem with him not being here because he’s putting the team first,” said Roosters teammate and fellow hot-head Victor Radley.
“He could easily get up here and face the music. It can be really positive for someone like him [not being here] and he can put his energy into what matters, which is his teammates.
“Maybe someone like Spencer might have his energy zapped thinking about all the questions he’ll get hammered with.
“Even myself, I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good at just coming to these things and not thinking about anything before I get here. I come and answer the questions freely and then leave without wasting energy.”
And then you have Connor Watson, an approachable, laid-back character who is a future media star. He was the player handed the difficult task of trying to calm Leniu when he saw red with Koloamatangi in his grill.
“He’s probably been burnt a few times and that probably makes you a bit cautious when it comes to putting yourself out there [in the media],” Watson said. “He’s a pretty quiet guy and wants to go about his business. Some things have been written about him or taken out of context. But he is someone who knows what he believes in stands up for his mates. It’s probably got him in trouble.”
Watson said Leniu throwing the ball away wasn’t ideal – nor was spending the next five minutes defending the Roosters’ line – but found his teammate’s unbridled passion and fury inspirational.
“He’s pretty quiet and introverted and then flicks the switch,” Watson said. “When you’re playing him, you think, ‘who is this aggro dude?’ But there is a softer side to him.
“We love Spence. We love how he plays. We want him to bring that aggression. When he does get like that, it is hard to calm him down. But you don’t want him to calm him right down either.”
Leniu knows he plays on the edge and makes no apology for it. He told May on the podcast that he cringes when he finds clips of himself going berserk on the field, but added: “That’s just who I am, bro.”
“When I cross that white line, there’s nothing else,” Leniu said. “I just want to win. If you’re beside me, I’ll ride with you until the 80th minute.”
Radley sat out last week’s game but says Leniu’s exchange with Koloamatangi was one of rugby league’s great moments. The stuff fans will remember for years.
The Roosters want Leniu, a three-time premiership winner with Penrith and six-time NSW representative, leaving nothing in the tank against his old club.
“That was the best,” Radley said of Leniu’s exchange with Koloamatangi. “If I was on the field, I would have been so amped.
“I probably wouldn’t have wanted to give the ball away. But when he did, it was almost like, ‘go on Keaon, run at him now’. It was just theatre. It’s what rugby league is all about and I loved it. We need him to be like that on Sunday.”
Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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