THE nephew of Leeds Rhinos legend Ali Lauitiiti is being tipped to take rugby league by storm following his professional contract.
Ali Leiataua – named after his famous uncle who regularly destroyed opposition defences – is being hailed as the next big thing at the New Zealand Warriors.
43-year-old Lauitiiti began his career with the Warriors, debuting in 1998 and registering 33 tries in 115 appearances before moving to Super League with Leeds.
The rampaging forward never looked back and stayed at Headingley for eight seasons, playing 200 games and winning four Super League Grand Final titles.
Following a four-year spell at Wakefield Trinity – where he played almost 100 games – Lauitiiti hung up his boots and returned back home to New Zealand.
Now it’s the turn of Leiataua, a Papatoetoe Panthers product, that has had spells in both rugby league and rugby union before recently settling on the 13-man code which is brilliant news for the sport considering his talent.
A centre not quite in the mould of his uncle, but every bit as determined, Leiataua represented rugby league representative teams Counties Stingrays while at Kings College then became an Auckland star shortly after.
In 2021 he was part of the Warriors extended squad based in Australia as well as being part of the club’s SG Ball team before the competition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
That being said, Leiataua is certainly a name to look out for in the near and long-term future.
