- Luciano Leilua was struggling with pace of the NRL
Footy star Luciano Leilua has revealed the decision to cut out fast food from his diet saved his NRL career.
Leilua, 29, saw his weight balloon to 135kg in September last year – and the Dragons backrower knew he needed to make drastic changes.
Pizzas and za’atar chicken were Leilua’s guilty pleasures, but his on-field form suffered as a result.
Coach Shane Flanagan – who doesn’t mince his words – told the Samoan international to radically alter his diet, or his time with the joint venture club was over.
Leilua now weighs 105kg, and despite the Dragons yet to chalk up a win this season, the form of the second-rower has been a shining light.
‘I found it really hard last year to keep on track with the speed of the game and toward the end I just said (to myself) I’ve got to either lose all this weight or just give it up,’ he told News Corp.
Footy star Luciano Leilua has revealed the decision to cut out fast food from his diet saved his NRL career (pictured, in August last year)
With the help of club nutritionists and trainers at the Dragons, Leilua has shed 30kg since last September (pictured, in a recent game against the Cowboys)
‘Definitely my diet was not where a professional athlete should be. I was eating oregano and cheese pizzas, meat and cheese pizzas… it was just silly.
‘(Other) people’s snacks would be fruit, my snack would be za’atar (chicken).’
According to NRL Stats, Leilua is averaging 145 metres a game this year, and has made almost 200 tackles with a completion rate of 91 per cent.
Crucially, Leilua is also punching out 80-minute performances each week, featuring from start to finish in recent matches against the Titans, Cowboys and Sea Eagles.
On Saturday night, the embattled Red V tackle South Sydney in a must-win clash at Accor Stadium in Sydney.
Flanagan appears to be on borrowed time as head coach given his team’s horror start.
In 2005, Newcastle lost their first 13 games, which remains an NRL record.
Not surprisingly, the Knights ended up with the wooden spoon that year.
