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However, that hasn\u2019t quite happened.<\/p>\n
Instead, he is set to depart the club at the end of the season, before his current deal expires, to link up with the Parramatta Eels, where he will reunite with former NSW Blues teammates Jarome Luai and Mitchell Moses.<\/p>\n
Speaking on NRL 360, CODE Sports reporter Brent Read revealed the Roosters decision to move him on is a combination of limited minutes, concerns about his discipline and the side\u2019s growing salary-cap pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a combination of things,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was brought in to become a starting front-rower and he hasn\u2019t become a starting front-rower. He\u2019s paid to be a starting front-rower (but) he\u2019s being playing 20-30 minutes a game basically. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t pay guys that amount of money. I think that\u2019s part of it. Obviously there are some concerns around his discipline at times.<\/p>\n
Spencer Leniu. Picture: NRL PhotosSource: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it has anything to do with him as a person because I think they love him as a player, but it\u2019s value for money. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019ve also got some blokes going up next year in terms of salary cap – Naufahu Whyte, Siua Wong, Blake Steep, Savala. All those guys\u2019 salaries are going up in the next couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow CODE Sports reporter Michael Carayannis agreed with his colleague\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n
He argued the Roosters simply aren\u2019t getting enough production from Leniu who is being paid around $850,000 a season to play on average 32 minutes a match.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s more bang for your buck. He\u2019s only averaging 32 minutes and if you\u2019re going to pay top-end quality for a front rower, then you\u2019re not going to get the production out of him,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cParramata aren\u2019t going to be playing him for 30 minutes. They\u2019re going to want 60-65 minutes out of him and that\u2019s what he was brought to the Roosters to do in a way. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was there to emerge from JWH\u2019s shadow and become that enforcer and play big minutes. <\/p>\n
\u201cJared played big minutes for a large chunk of his career but when you look at the average this year, 32 minutes (isn\u2019t good).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s on significant money and they\u2019ve had to upgrade a lot of players and if you\u2019re averaging 32 minutes per game, you\u2019re not getting bang for your buck.\u201d<\/p>\n
DCE speaks on leading Chooks in finals | 02:38<\/p>\n
While the former NSW Blues forward may not have been worth the money he is on at the Roosters, his pending move to the Eels would benefit all three parties involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn those numbers, he\u2019s worth more to Parramatta because he will play longer minutes. I think it is about freeing up some money,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n
For the Roosters, it would free up significant salary cap space, while the Eels would gain an enforcer capable of adding aggression and power to their forward pack.<\/p>\n
And for Leniu, a change of scenery would benefit his long-term development and allow him to spend more minutes on the field while also leading the pack alongside Junior Paulo.<\/p>\n
Carayannis added, \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a necessity. You look at that Parramatta forward pack and they need someone like Spencer so I think he\u2019s going to be a really good signing for Parramatta.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Savala could be the difference, not DCE | 01:34<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the Roosters they\u2019ve had these guys like Naufahu Whyte who have probably kicked sooner. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they signed Spencer, they probably knew Naufahu was going to be an outstanding talent, but he\u2019s come a long way far quicker than we would\u2019ve imagined<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s super valuable and he\u2019s a point of difference. His body shape, physique, and speed it\u2019s very rare but you can\u2019t drop the ball when you\u2019ve got it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where you\u2019ve got to control the aggression and you can\u2019t change him and you know what you\u2019re buying, but when it comes to the fine line, you don\u2019t want it to happen at crucial moments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sydney Roosters\u2019 decision to cut ties with Spencer Leniu has raised plenty of eyebrows but the reasons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-885548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885548","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=885548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}