St George Illawarra Dragons forward Luciano Leilua will not be leaving the club prior to the end of the 2026 NRL season.
Leilua, who dropped back to the NSW Cup last week on his own request after failing to play big minutes in the NRL, made a big statement on his return to reserve grade with a monster performance, and then is understood to have requested an immediate release this week.
The NRL's deadline for player movememnts is June 30, so Leilua would have needed to move fast if he was going to leave the Red V prior to the end of the year.
It's understood however per ESPN's Isaac Issa that the Dragons have knocked back the request however, with the club preferring to keep him through to the end of the current campaign, which also doubles as the end of his current contract.
The forward was in tremendous form early in the year as he played for his future, but it appears he will be the latest casualty of the Dragons roster rebuild, which comes with five new signings already locked in.
The club have locked up Scott Drinkwater, Luke Metcalf, Phillip Sami, Keaon Koloaamtangi and Connor Watson for 2027, while they have also been linked to Shawn Blore, who is set to leave the Melbourne Storm.
Combined with a crop of young forwards - there are six who are first-grade ready in Toby and Ryan Couchman, Hamish Stewart, Dylan Egan, Loko Pasifiki Tonga and Jacob Halangahu, the club have no room for a number of this year's roster.
Damien Cook is a confirmed departure, while the club have also told centre Moses Suli he is free to go, while plenty of conjecture continues around the future of Clint Gutherson, Valentine Holmes and Blake Lawrie among others.
The Red V, who are yet to lock in a fulltime coach for 2027 after Shane Flanagan was axed earlier this year, will look to their signings and young forwards to pave the way forward, leaving no room for Leilua to remain at the club.
The release request did come as a surprise given the forward only told Fox Sports last week that he was keen to remain at the joint-venture.
“For sure, I would love to (remain at the Dragons). I just let my manager handle all that but all I can do is just go out there and play good footy,” Leilua told the publication last week.
“I'm not too sure at the moment. I haven't really spoken to anyone or the club yet and I'm just trying to play good footy for the moment.”
Leilua, even without a release request, is free to actively negotiate his future for next year away from the Dragons.
