Ex-Broncos front rower Dunamis Lui is settling into life on Sydney's northern beaches as he seeks greater NRL exposure at his new club.
Speaking to NRL.com from pre-season training at Narrabeen, the 23-year-old said the decision to leave Brisbane for Manly was a difficult one that took around eight weeks of mulling over – but in the end it was a necessary one for his career.
"[The motivation was] not really for a better deal; it was more the opportunity I got to come down as a part of the top four front rowers down here," Lui said.
"In Brisbane I was there for four years and I felt like I was stuck in the same position every year. It took me a while to make the decision, it took me eight weeks, but in the end it was a decision I had to make."
Lui has played just 32 top grade matches over four seasons for the Broncos after debuting in 2010, and played very limited minutes in plenty of those, stuck behind big-minute forwards such as Ben Hannant, Sam Thaiday and Josh McGuire.
A series of knee and hip injuries have not helped his cause but Lui said the body was now feeling great, boosted by a steadier training program at Manly than what he was used to at Brisbane.
"[The setup is] not much different to the Broncos... the training down here, it's a bit longer and a bit more constant throughout the day. It's not like you come in in the morning and do it in one go, it's a bit more throughout the day," he said.
"I think for me it's a lot better, with my knee injuries and hip flexors and groins... with the Broncos, I think the [compressed] workload up there was a bit much for me but down here I feel a lot better."
Lui said there weren't too many familiar faces at the club when he arrived, aside from a couple of other fresh signings in fellow Broncos junior Delroy Berryman and former Mackay Cutters prop Tyson Andrew, but the players have been great in helping him fit in.
"It's going well meeting all the new boys; the boys have been great for me, I'm a pretty shy person but they've made it easy to fit in," he said.
"We've had a few team bonding sessions, a lot of boys in their spare time are looking for something to do so that's been great."
