A former Junior Kiwi and Wests Tiger is one of a group of five Aussies and New Zealanders attempting to make a bold break into the NFL.
Etuale Lui is a man mountain at 149 kilos – and the 21-year-old is still growing.
He starred for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos in 2019 and may well be playing first grade for the Tigers now but for COVID.
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The pandemic saw the big front-rower sent home to Auckland – and his weight ballooned.
“He is a Willie Mason type – a huge guy with a huge personality and a bit of a joker,” Lui’s manager Dixon McIver told Wide World of Sports.
“But his discipline as far as training and his diet let him down and he stacked on the kilos.
“He still has an athletic big body that is probably more suited to the NFL now and we are very excited about his prospects.”
Lui is trialling as an offensive or defensive lineman and was put through his paces along with his fellow Australasians at a special combine camp in London earlier this month.
The other players, Australians Brendan Oswin, Lachlan Amosa, Patrick Murtagh and Kiwi Jaylen Raymond Chan-Tung, are hoping to emulate Sydney born Jordan Mailata, who went from a league reserve grader at South Sydney to a $US64 million ($101 million AUD) offensive tackle with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Some 44 hopefuls from around the globe trialled in London, and that will be cut to a shortlist of 12 for the next stage of the combine to be held in Florida late in the year.
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