New Leeds Rhinos recruit Sam Lisone says he has come to Headingley to win trophies, insisting: “I wouldn’t be here otherwise!” The 28-year-old prop has been reunited with Rohan Smith after the Leeds boss coached Lisone when he played for New Zealand Warriors Under-20s side.
Lisone has made 133 NRL appearances, including 14 this year, during his time at the Warriors and the Gold Coast Titans, where he has spent the past three seasons. The hulking enforcer, who represented Samoa at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, said he was aware of the Rhinos’ illustrious history having spoken to a number of their former players.
Lisone was contracted to the Titans until the end of the 2024 season but was allowed to leave. “To be honest, I don’t want to talk about what happened,” said the forward, who arrived in England on Sunday. “I had some issues at the Titans and an opportunity came up over here for a fresh start.
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“I want to give it a red hot crack and make myself, my family, my team-mates and the fans proud. I’m here at Leeds and I’m ready to rip in for my new team-mates. That’s the goal [to win silverware], I am not coming all this way just to take part. If I was coming here just to muck around I would have stayed in Australia. I will just do my best for the boys.”
Lisone sees his reunion with Smith as a means of relaunching his career. “I want to play some good footy and find my feet again,” he explained. “Me and Rohan have had a good chat about it - I am trying to find that spark and play my best footy. I want to turn myself over to the team and hopefully we can do something special next year. I’ll keep playing footy until my knees blow and I can’t walk again. I will go anywhere to play footy – this club was interested so here I am.”
Smith arrived at Leeds in May before transforming the side from relegation candidates into Super League Grand Finalists, losing to all-conquering St Helens at Old Trafford.
Lisone added: “I had a good relationship with Rohan and it wasn’t a hard choice to make. I know what he is about and what he can bring out of his players. Seeing what the team did last year, when they went to the Grand Final, I want to be part of that and part of this club.
“There was a couple of other clubs interested, but my childhood friend David Fusitu’a is at the club and that was another reason why I wanted to come here. It is a great club - I used to play as them on League Live on PlayStation 2 - Jamie Jones-Buchanan used to score my tries! Dave and I talk all the time. Once I knew Dave was over here, I wanted to come here.
“It’s pretty cool, I got in on Sunday and I feel pretty good. I was up at 2.30 on Monday morning, but I did some weights with the boys and met the team. I’ve had a look at the gym where we train and [seen] all the legends who’ve come through that, people I used to look up to like [former Rhinos hero] Ali Lauitiiti, who comes from the same area I come from.”
Playing in front of the famous South Stand and the atmosphere it creates adds to the appeal for Lisone. He added: “That’s one thing I am looking forward to, running out on a Friday night and the drums going off. I am pretty excited about that. I don’t know much about [Super League], but I am keen to give it a crack.”
Lisone’s partner is Georgia Hale, who played for the New Zealand Ferns during the recent World Cup and has been tipped to join Leeds when she moves to West Yorkshire. Lisone said: “I think she will make that decision when she gets over.”
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