Leuluai: Living up to the legacy

• Tommy Leuluai previews today’s Coral Challenge Cup Semi Final against Leeds.
• The 35-year-old talks about his experiences in the competition, succeeding for the supporters and the performances of the young players.
• Leuluai: “I’ve had some good memories, to win it was a special thing and it was a game I really enjoyed.”

Tommy Leuluai has fond memories of the Challenge Cup and is focused on reaching this month’s Final.

The Warriors face Leeds Rhinos on Saturday afternoon at the Totally Wicked Stadium (K.O. 2:30pm), with a place at Wembley on the 17th October up for grabs.

Leuluai has featured in two previous Challenge Cup Finals for Wigan, with contrasting outcomes, and is looking forward to battling to reach his third.

He said: “It’s been a busy time for everyone in the whole squad, and it’s a big game this week but I’m looking forward to it. I have lost a Semi Final before, so staying in the moment is a big thing and you don’t want any regrets, so you have to make sure do your job and get the result.

“I’ve had some good memories, to win it (in 2011) was a special thing and it was a game I really enjoyed. The last time we went there (in the 2017 Final) was pretty disappointing and it has been a focus of ours since the competition started this year, but we’re not at the Final yet.”

The half-back says the Club’s history in the competition is a good driving force for the current team, and that when he joined it was something he realised pretty quickly.

“I knew we were a successful Club, which is something we’ve spoken about this week, so it’s about living up to the legacy of the people before us.

The 35-year-old is eager to be successful this year in order to reward the fans for their ongoing support from home.

“We are still quite lucky, because despite what’s going on in the world, we get to go out there and do what we enjoy. I’m looking at this for our fans and supporters. The people of Wigan love the Challenge Cup so much, so it would be great to reward all our fans out there after the tough times this year.”

Wigan have already faced Leeds since the resumption of the Betfred Super League in August, coming away 28-10 winners.

Whilst not underestimating the Rhinos, Leuluai believes the Warriors have improved since then.

“We’re wary because they have some great players, but I think we have improved a lot since the last time we played them. After the Hull KR game we had a good look and changed a few things, so we will be working upon those lines and keep on improving. I like to think we are a better team than the last time, but it’s about what you do on the day.”

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