{"id":369447,"date":"2024-02-21T01:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T02:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369447"},"modified":"2024-02-21T04:05:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T04:05:01","slug":"in-demand-cowboys-star-makes-2-7m-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369447","title":{"rendered":"In-demand Cowboys star makes $2.7m decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

L\ufeffuciano Leilua<\/a> is heading home.<\/p>\n

The explosive backrower will return to the Dragons<\/a> on a three-year NRL<\/a> deal after being granted an immediate release from the Cowboys<\/a>, ending a tricky tenure up north and finally giving Shane Flanagan<\/a> a marquee recruit.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Leilua had been linked with a move to Canberra over the past week, but the Samoan international will instead commit to St George Illawarra until the end of 2026, according to The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bennett linked to Sydney club in bombshell role<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Crichton's promise to Bulldogs fans after switch<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NRL top 30-21: Superstar halves, top winger land<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Herald reports the deal is worth an estimated $2.7 million across three seasons, putting him among the club's highest-paid players.<\/p>\n

\"Cowboys<\/p>\n

North Queensland is expected to contribute half of his salary for this season, before the Dragons pick up the entire bill for the final two years.<\/p>\n

The \ufeff27-year-old will return to the club where his rugby league journey began, with the Hurstville United junior coming through the lower grades in the Red V before making his NRL debut in 2016.<\/p>\n

Leilua has since made 123 first grade appearances across his stints with the Dragons, Tigers and Cowboys, as well as representing Samoa \ufeffon three occasions. \ufeff<\/p>\n

He will join the likes of Raymond Fait\ufeffala-Mariner, Kyle Flanagan and Hame Sele as new signings for the Red V heading into the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

Neither club is yet to confirm the news, but an announcement is expected imminently.<\/p>\n

MORE TO FOLLOW\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L\ufeffuciano Leilua is heading home. The explosive backrower will return to the Dragons on a three-year NRL deal after being granted an immediate release from […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":369449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369450,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369447\/revisions\/369450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/369449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=369447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=369447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}