Leilua to face court

STAR’S CUP IN DOUBT

LUCIANO Leilua’s World Cup dreams are hanging by a thread as the NRL’s off-season got off to a shocking start with multiple incidents within hours of the 2022 premiership ending.

Following a period of relatively good behaviour by players, the NRL’s Integrity Unit has opened multiple investigations within hours of Sunday night’s grand final between Penrith and Parramatta.

North Queensland star Leilua will face a Sydney court next week after being charged with the alleged assault of a woman known to him on Monday.

Leilua, 26, was granted bail to face Campbelltown Local Court on Tuesday week after being charged with common assault and damaging or destroying property following the alleged smashing of a mobile phone.

Leilua had checked into Sydney Airport with the rest of the Samoa squad to fly to England on Monday night ahead of the upcoming World Cup.

But he was left behind following the alleged incident involving a 26-year-old woman and now faces an uncertain future.

Samoa will wait until next week to decide if the North Queensland back-rower will be allowed to be part of its World Cup preparations, while the Cowboys’ 2023 NRL season could also be impacted.

Samoa will launch its World Cup campaign against England on October 15 – giving Leilua very little time to be available for the first match of the tournament if he is cleared to travel.

Leilua’s charges do not fall under the NRL’s automatic ‘No Fault Stand Down’ policy, however NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has discretionary powers to stand players down.

The NRL has shown a lower threshold for exercising its discretionary powers in cases involving alleged domestic violence.

At this stage, Leilua has not been stood down, however the NRL is expected to wait until the allegations become clearer before taking a stance. That could happen after next Tuesday’s court appearance.

The Cowboys issued a statement.

“The North Queensland Cowboys have been made aware of an alleged incident regarding player Luciano Leilua which has resulted in police charges,” the club said.

“The club is gathering further information and assisting the NRL Integrity Unit as well as providing support to all parties involved.

“Further comment will be made in due course.”

The Leilua incident followed the NRL looking into a social media post made by Panthers premiership star Jarome Luai in the hours after Penrith’s grand final victory.

Luai shared an image of himself and teammate Jaeman Salmon to Instagram, captioning the post “my n **** ”.