There are many different paths players take to the NRL but of those lining up in Sunday’s grand final, Moses Leota has perhaps walked the hardest.
Since leaving his home in New Zealand as a youngster and moving across the ditch to pursue his rugby league dream, Leota hasn’t had anything handed to him on a platter. He’s earned it.
Now 26 and with 104 NRL games under his belt – as well as a Test for Samoa – the man who brought him into the fold at Penrith almost a decade ago, Phil Gould, lifted the lid on the kind of person Leota is.
“He was living in a caravan out the back of his aunt’s place, in Mt Druitt somewhere. We found all this out later,” Gould told James Bracey for Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
“In the under 20s he used to rush into training a minute before training would start, and he would have his work gear on. He was covered in rubbish, in dirt and grime, and his hands would be bleeding.
“He was bricklaying. He was a brickie’s labourer. He would be bricklaying all day, every day and then come to training with his hands bleeding.
“And he used to lead up – he would never whinge, never complain – he was leading up in everything. We said he can’t keep doing this… he said ‘I need the money’. He was sending money home to his mother in New Zealand.
“So he’s living in a caravan, he’s sending money home to his mother in New Zealand, he’s working five days a week as a brickie’s labourer, and coming to training late in the evenings to train with our under 20s team.
READ MORE: Grand final referee weighs in on feud between coaches
READ MORE: Messi scores superb first goal for PSG in Champions League
READ MORE: Joe Root still not committed to England’s Ashes team
“He never whinged, he never complained, he was so tough and dedicated. I said ‘let’s get you a new job, what sort of job would you like?’ and he said ‘I’d love to be a motor mechanic’.
“So I rang my good friend at the Volvo dealership in Penrith, he was one of our sponsors… we took (Leota) down there.
“(The dealership) said ‘I haven’t got an apprenticeship at the moment, it won’t start until next year, but you can come and work here and I’ll give you plenty of things to do’.
“I rang up a month later and said ‘how’s that kid doing at work?’ and he said ‘I gave him a job washing cars, we’ve got the cleanest cars in Penrith’. He said ‘if you’ve got any more like him, send them around. He won’t stop’.
“Everything Moses did he would always have a smile on his face. All the contracts he signed along the way, and the big contract he signed before I left, he was just so appreciative and loving of the opportunity.
“We went over to play in Auckland one year, he was in the first-grade side, and he asked for a bit of time off. He said ‘I just want to go and see my mother’.
“He went and bought his mother a new van, a big car for the whole family and presented it. A beautiful, beautiful kid.”
Leota has blossomed into one of Penrith’s best forwards – and one of the best props in the game.
He missed last week’s preliminary final win over Melbourne due to a calf injury, but he’s been named to line up in this week’s premiership decider against South Sydney.
“I was worried when he didn’t play last week because he provides so much energy up front, so I’m hoping he’s 100 per cent fit,” Gould said.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!