KRUISE LEEMING is one of a cohort of new signings ready to take Super League by storm with the Wigan Warriors.
After a short spell in the NRL with Gold Coast Titans in the latter half of the 2023 season, Leeming is back in Super League and raring to go, having signed a four-year deal with the Warriors.
It’s no mean feat that the Lancashire club were able to persuade the Eswatini-born hooker to make the move back to the UK – especially when considering that the Titans offered Leeming a deal to stay in Australia.
So why did Leeming make the move to Wigan and turn down the chance to stay in the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans?
“It was the fact of playing in a champion environment with a lot of champions – that really excited me and I think where I am at in my career now, that’s what I’ve been longing for, to win something,” Leeming told League Express.
“I had a little bit of success at Leeds which was great but any player wants to win and I felt like being at Wigan would give me the best chance of that as well as growing my personal development.
“I could have stayed in the NRL with the Titans but, for me as a player, the most important thing is where I get my personal development and that’s why I chose Wigan.”
Of course, Leeming left the Leeds Rhinos midway through the 2023 season after three-and-a-half years with the West Yorkshire club, with the 28-year-old handing in a transfer request.
However, the 2020 Challenge Cup winner felt he had to grasp the opportunity of an NRL deal with two hands and professes that it was “the perfect time” for him to go.
“It’s a great club and I had a great time there. I enjoyed it a lot and there were a great set of lads over there. I just got a chance to go to the NRL and I saw that as a good opportunity.
“I’d recommend anybody to go over there, 100 percent, it was a massive learning curve and a good thing to say that I have done.
“It was also a good time in my career to do it. I’m single and was 27 so it was the perfect time for me to go.”
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