Robert Lui: I’m loving life at Leeds Rhinos both on and off the pitch

I HAVE been at Leeds just over a month now and I am enjoying it.
Robert Lui.Robert Lui.
Robert Lui.

READ: Peter Smith on the recent demise of Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants

I have settled in well, the boys have opened up to me and the club has been good.

Leeds Rhinos women celebrate their Challenge Cup victory over Castleford.Leeds Rhinos women celebrate their Challenge Cup victory over Castleford.
Leeds Rhinos women celebrate their Challenge Cup victory over Castleford.
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I feel like I have found my feet and even though I haven’t got a house here in Leeds yet, that doesn’t affect me.

When I need to stay over I stay at Rhyse and Wellington’s place so I am getting well looked after.

I don’t want to rush things, I am taking my time and, once I’m moved in, that’ll be even better. The fans here are real good and they’ve really made me feel welcome. Even when we are losing they are still there, shouting for us.

They know what I can bring to the team and I think they respect that and I definitely love playing at Headingley in front of the home crowd.

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They support us no matter what and I think there’s some good things ahead. We need to get a few more wins to finish the year well, work hard in pre-season and then we can look forward to next year.

Since I’ve been here we have had a couple of wins followed by a couple of losses, but we can turn that around this week.

It is another big game, away at Huddersfield. They are good at home, but we don’t have to worry about the table, where we are or the opposition.

All we have to do is worry about ourselves and what we can bring because, if we get the best out of each other, we will win the game.

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In the last game, against Hull FC, we didn’t start real well, we didn’t complete our sets, but we put ourselves where we could have won the game. They had a bit of luck, but footy games are won by luck.

We have learned our lesson, we know we have to start well and complete our sets and then we will be in the game. The start is going to be big for us. Any team knows if you don’t start well you will probably lose.

All we have got to do is complete our sets, go forward and defend well. It is a simple game and that’s easy to say, but hard to do.

As a half, what I can do is have confidence in my forwards and say “get me here and, if you do a job for me, I will do a job for you”.

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We have trained well and, if we play like that, we will be okay. It was good to have a week without a game because it is a long season.

It was nice to have a couple of days away from footy, but we’ve been training hard since last Thursday and we’ve worked on a few things we know we need to fix up.

We’ve refocused this week and we’re all refreshed. There’s a bit more energy there and I think we are in good shape.

I watched the last weekend’s Women’s Challenge Cup final and was really impressed.

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I was happy for Cuthbo; as their coach he does a lot for those girls and they did really well.

They controlled it, tightened up in defence and kicked well. You could see the belief in them and I congratulate them from all the boys. Winning it back to back, they are starting their own legacy. The women’s game is really growing and that’s good to see.

My partner plays, she was at Leigh and now she has gone over to Warrington.

Maybe when we move over here she might have a run with Leeds. We are a really footy family and she loves it.

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The game is getting bigger. When we first came over she was playing, but they didn’t have Super League.

Now she wants to get into Super League and it is good to have something to aim for. There are women out there who really want to play the game and it is good to see it thriving.