Rob Lui: Leeds Rhinos head coach Richard Agar on how the half-back made his mark at the club

As far as Richard Agar is concerned, it is impossible to understate the impact Robert Lui has made at Leeds Rhinos since he first walked through the doors at their Kirkstall training ground just under two years ago.

When the Australian half-back arrived at the Rhinos from Salford Red Devils in June 2019 as part of a swap deal which saw Tui Lolohea head the other way, Agar – then still interim head coach – was attempting to turn around a season which had seen them slump to the lower reaches of Super League and suffering a humiliating loss to Championship side Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup.

Lui’s Leeds debut came just days after his arrival and he helped them to a 31-12 win at home to Catalans Dragons followed by scoring his first try for his new club in an 18-10 win away to Castleford Tigers in front of the Sky Sports cameras, with Agar’s men eventually preserving their Super League status.

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The 31-year-old, who announced earlier this week he would be returning to Australia at the end of the 2021 season, subsequently helped the Rhinos rebound to lift the Challenge Cup and reach the Super League play-offs last year and head coach Agar praised his contributions both on and off the pitch.

“We were in a really difficult spot when we signed Rob,” Agar said. “I think relegation was a distinct possibility for the team and the way it was playing at that particular time.

“It was his immediate impact of walking into the club, what he gave us on the field and off it as a senior player, a great team-mate, being really good with the young boys and having positive nature every day.

“We then got back into the play-offs and won the Challenge Cup, which was the first trophy of Rob’s career, so that was a really special moment for him and for us to experience that with him.

“What were tricky circumstances at the time and has been a tricky last year, Rob has given a lot to this club.”

Lui had already informed the club ahead of the current campaign of his intention to return home, where the man from Townsville aims to continue playing in the second-tier Queensland state competition.

It will bring to an end six seasons in England, having originally joined Salford from North Queensland Cowboys for 2016, and while Lui feels the time is right for him and his family to return to Australia he will take plenty of fond memories with him.

“I do have a soft spot for Leeds, winning the Challenge Cup and it is a good bunch of boys here,” Lui told the Yorkshire Post after going public with his decision to leave.

It was his immediate impact of walking into the club, what he gave us on the field and off it as a senior player, a great team-mate, being really good with the young boys and having positive nature every day.

Richard Agar on what Robert Lui brought to Leeds Rhinos

“But me and my partner had a talk and it was time just to finish off this year and then go back home.

“I have been here [in England] six years and I have enjoyed every single bit of it.”

What will be his final season with the Rhinos has not, however, got off to the easiest of starts. Lui contracted Covid-19 during pre-season and then when he had recovered, suffered a quad injury which has kept him out of action so far this season.

Nevertheless, he is determined to make his final year with the club one to remember and head coach Agar – whose side tackle Wakefield Trinity in Friday’s Super League match live on Sky Sports – is more than happy to give him that opportunity when he is back to full fitness, which is expected to be in around four to five weeks

“At the start of the year, he talked about how this would be his last year and he wanted to finish on a really positive note,” Agar said.

“After he got injured, we had some further talks with him about if he had the desire and fire burning to rehabilitate himself and get back after a lengthy injury, and the answer was a resounding ‘yes’.

“He’s training really hard, he wants to go out on his terms, and we’re more than happy with that.”

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