{"id":152971,"date":"2025-09-18T21:56:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/152971\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T21:56:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:56:17","slug":"leota-to-play-200th-game-in-finals-blockbuster-the-western-weekender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/152971\/","title":{"rendered":"Leota to play 200th game in Finals blockbuster \u2022 The Western Weekender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Moses Leota will play his 200th NRL game. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

Premiership-winning prop Moses Leota will earn himself a slice of history this Sunday afternoon when he becomes just the 11th player to reach 200 games for the Panthers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a huge milestone for the 30-year-old St Marys junior, who made his debut against the Manly Sea Eagles midway through the 2016 season.<\/p>\n

While Leota was only privy to just 10 minutes of action in his debut game, his time on the Brookvale Oval pitch was very impactful, with the youngster running more metres in 10 minutes (55 metres) than fellow prop Leilani Latu did in 53 (44 metres).<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get much minutes but I felt like I went out there, done the job, and got the boys off on the front foot,\u201d Leota told the Weekender after his debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf \u2018Hook\u2019 (coach Anthony Griffin) gives me more minutes this week, I feel like I\u2019ll really be able to progress my game and become a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moses Leota in 2016. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward nearly a decade later and Leota is one of the premier props in the competition \u2013 winning four straight NRL premierships and becoming the heart and soul of Penrith\u2019s forward pack.<\/p>\n

Not only is he averaging 104 running metres per game in his 10th season, but he\u2019s also kept himself very fit and healthy \u2013 playing nearly every game in six of the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the Weekender on Tuesday, Leota said he was proud to notch up the double century with one club.<\/p>\n

\u201c200 games is a massive milestone, especially for the one club,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was to play a few games if I could and I\u2019m at 200 now, so I\u2019m blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moses Leota. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

The only other current Panther to play 200 games is co-captain Isaah Yeo, who as of this week sits at an eye-watering 264 matches.<\/p>\n

Leota said he has lots of special moments throughout his long and decorated career but it\u2019s not hard to guess which ones are his favourite.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the Grand Finals\u2026 just all the rings we\u2019ve got,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cScoring a try in the 2023 Grand Final too.<\/p>\n

\u201c200 games for the one club is massive. I wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panthers will celebrate Leota\u2019s incredible milestone this Sunday afternoon when they do battle with the Canterbury Bulldogs at Accor Stadium.<\/p>\n

A crowd upwards of 60,000 is expected for the blockbuster Semi Final, which will see one team advance to next week and one team bowing out.<\/p>\n

Leota said he\u2019s expecting plenty of fireworks this Sunday as both teams look to keep their 2025 Premiership hopes alive.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nathan Taylor chatting with Moses Leota this week. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough. There\u2019s going to be some emotion, but at the end of the day it\u2019s another game and we just have to stick to the process and do what we do best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like over in Auckland last weekend, the Panthers will be the \u2018away\u2019 team for the contest. While Accor Stadium is no stranger to them, it\u2019s expected Bulldogs fans will considerably outnumber Penrith supporters on game day.<\/p>\n

According to Leota, his side thrive off any type of crowd no matter whether they are with them or against them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ll just block out the noise and like I said, stick to the process and do what we do best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t hear much noise, you know you\u2019re doing well, but I think it\u2019s going to be a good atmosphere and a good game to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moses Leota in action against the Warriors. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

The Panthers advanced to a date with the third-placed Bulldogs after getting the job done over the New Zealand Warriors last Saturday.<\/p>\n

That Final also had plenty of emotion, with Leota and former teammate and best friend James Fisher-Harris getting everyone talking after one heated moment during the game.<\/p>\n

Leota said their push and shove was their way of showing their admiration for one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it was probably a bit of love to each other, so we showed some love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it was good to get back out there with him and see him do well for the Warriors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a successful year for them. They made the Finals missing a few key players. They went well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moses Leota. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moses Leota will play his 200th NRL game. Photo: Melinda Jane. Premiership-winning prop Moses Leota will earn himself…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-152971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}