The now four-time premiership winner saved his best performance in Roosters colours for last, running for 92 metres and breaking four tackles as he changed momentum in the grand final. <\/p>\n
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It was a fitting farewell for Leniu, who looks all but certain to join the Parramatta Eels next season despite still having another year left on his contract with the Roosters.<\/p>\n
While he told journalists in the sheds after the grand final that he was leaving any discussions on his future to his manager, Code Sports captured vision of Leniu embracing fellow front rower Naufahu Whyte. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love ya bro, thanks for everything,\u201d Whyte could be heard telling Leniu according to the publication.<\/p>\n
Veteran rugby league reporter Brent Read said on NRL 360 that Leniu is expected to sign a four-year deal with the Eels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think this (the grand final win) changes anything,\u201d Read added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the deal is just about done. It\u2019s a long way down the path with Parramatta.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big signing for Parra. They need him.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Leniu is not worth it with those stats! | 03:43<\/p>\n
Read said he is not expecting the deal to be signed on in the next week as the Roosters celebrate their grand final victory, but forecast it will be done within the next fortnight. <\/p>\n
Dean Ritchie called it a \u201cheavy blow\u201d for the Roosters, although Braith Anasta said it was a move that will \u201cwork out well for both parties\u201d despite Leniu\u2019s dominant grand final showing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpencer hasn\u2019t really had the impact they thought he would have,\u201d Anasta added.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a bit inconsistent. At times he\u2019s been great. That was a career-best game on the biggest stage of all for the club and he delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leniu isn\u2019t the only Rooster who is set to leave the club a premiership winner, with Angus Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase off to rugby union while Daly Cherry-Evans is heading abroad to play in the Super League.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Connor Watson is off to the Dragons before joining the PNG Chiefs for their inaugural season.<\/p>\n
One player whose future remains up in the air is veteran winger Daniel Tupou, who is without a contract beyond next year. <\/p>\n
Anasta: “You got it wrong!” | 00:40<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Tupou told Channel 10 when asked if he would play on.<\/p>\n
It is not all bad news on the transfer front for the Roosters, with rising second rower Salesi Foketi unlikely to hit November 1 and instead set to re-sign on a three-year deal.<\/p>\n
Foketi was a bolter for the Clive Churchill Medal after an impressive grand final performance which saw him run for 98 metres with four tackle busts, three offloads and 35 tackles.<\/p>\n
Read said Foketi would have been in \u201chot demand\u201d had he hit the open market, but instead the Roosters will have both him and second rower Siua Wong contracted to at least 2028. <\/p>\n
Anasta said Foketi was \u201cone of the best players\u201d against the Knights.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time he touches it he has late footwork, he\u2019s powerful and he finds his front. He\u2019s got speed,\u201d Anasta added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is the footage that all but confirms Spencer Leniu\u2019s impending exit from the Roosters. Watch Australia\u2019s Tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-917477","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\/917477","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=917477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}