Blues enforcer Spencer Leniu has paid tribute to Latrell Mitchell for easing any tension that may have existed between the pair by delivering a simple message – ‘I’ve got your back, now let’s just go rip into some Queenslanders’.
Returning to the Blues fold for the first time since 2021, Mitchell was quick to extend an olive branch to his new teammate as they join forces in a bid to keep the series alive in Melbourne.
Mitchell was vocal in his support of Ezra Mam after he was on the end of a racial slur from Leniu in the season opener in Las Vegas, taking to Instagram to say that “Standing up for what you believe in is the hardest thing you could ever do, that’s why not everyone can do it”.
Leniu was banned for eight matches by the NRL before returning in Round 10 and forcing his way into the NSW side for Game One, where he impressed with 13 powerhouse runs in 23 minutes of game time.
The 23-year-old now finds himself sharing a training field and a common cause with Mitchell, who went out of his way to clear the air from the moment he walked in the door at NSW HQ on Monday.
“It’s a true credit to who he is as a person to come in and pull me aside and tell me he had my back and let’s just go rip into some Queenslanders,” Leniu said.
He is a really passionate person about his culture and his people and he’s a voice for so many people who don’t have one.
Spencer Leniu on Latrell Mitchell
“He was just backing up his people as I would mine and it’s a credit to him to come in and speak to me like that.
“He has a presence about him, he walked in and I looked at him and said, ‘Oh shit, that’s Trellmit’. It gives you a lot of confidence to have him on your side.”
In a bizarre twist to the tale, Leniu revealed he had played rugby union alongside Mitchell’s cousin Tangi Mafi for Blacktown Scorpions as a teenager, with Mitchell often among the crowd at their matches.
“Latrell used to be there just kicking the ball around with Tangi’s brothers,” Leniu said.
“My cousin’s mum always used to say, ‘This is going to be the next Greg Inglis’ and we’d look at Latrell and be like, ‘Nah, he’s not going to be that guy’ … and then the next couple of years we’re like, ‘That guy is Trellmit!’
“I played rugby for three for years for the Scorpions, training on Tuesday and Thursday and playing on Sunday. Then I’d have league training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and play on Saturday.
“It was a busy schedule but I just loved being with the boys and that’s why I did it.”
That same sense of brotherhood was a constant during Leniu’s time as a three-time premiership player at Penrith, and something he felt amongst the Blues players when they played a man down for 72 minutes in Game One.
“I’m just grateful and blessed to be back in this arena and to get an opportunity to right our wrongs from the first game,” Leniu said.
“I felt like everyone brought into what Madge was trying to drive and the relationships grew as brothers and I think that’s why the loss was hard to take.
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“It’s still such a blur, it’s quiet and dark and you come through that tunnel [at Accor Stadium] and there’s 80,000 people cheering for you, honestly to this day I’m speechless about it.
“I’ve played that bench role for a while now and I just try to make a difference every time when I come on. When you see Payne [Haas] and skipper [Jake Trbojevic] rip and tear for 30-odd minutes, to repay them I have to go out there and play 10 minutes and rip in.”
One man Leniu will be keen to keep tabs on is Maroons fullback Reece Walsh, who has been cleared to return after playing just eight minutes in Game One before being knocked out in the tackle that resulted in Joseph Sua’ali’i being sent off.
A war of words has since erupted between both camps over the treatment dished out to Walsh both at Origin and club level this year, but Leniu believes the superstar No.1 should take the extra attention as a compliment.
“Everyone was saying we were targeting him, but I think that just speaks volumes to who Reece is as a player,” Leniu said.
“When you are one of the most electrifying players, one of the most exciting players, you have that aura about you and you can impact a game the way he does, I think us preparing our best to try to stop him is a credit to who he is as a player.
“I think it should be seen as a compliment to him as opposed to an attack on him. He can change the momentum of the game just like that.
“This is just Origin – when they see Blue it’s on, when we see Maroon it’s on. There’s no love for each other and we’ll go out there to rip and tear but obviously we don’t go out to try and take off heads, it was just a mistake.”
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