Robert Lui (born 23 February 1990) is an Australian professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
footballer who plays as a or for the
Townsville Blackhawks
The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...
in the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
.
He has previously played for the
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...
and the
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).
Sinc ...
in the
NRL and the
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
in the
Super League. He spent the latter part of the
2019 Super League season on loan from
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
at the
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...
. He moved to
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
on a permanent basis at the conclusion of his loan move.
Background
Lui was born and brought up in
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
,
Queensland, Australia
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. He is of
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...
descent.
He played his junior football with the Upper Ross Rams and later for the Centrals Tigers before being spotted by the Tigers and undertaking a scholarship at Keebra Park High on the
Gold Coast, Queensland.
In 2007, he made the Queensland Open Schoolboys side and accepted a scholarship with the
Australian Institute of Sport. After completing high school, Lui joined the
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...
NYC
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
team in 2008.
Playing career
![Robert Lui](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Robert_Lui.jpg)
2009
Lui started the season playing for the Tigers'
NYC
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
team. He made his
NRL debut in Round 23, in a 56–10 win over
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...
, and played 2 further games near the end of the season. Returning to the Wests Tigers' NYC team, he played in the team that lost the Grand Final to
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...
, scoring a try in the second half. At the end of the season, Lui was named in the Toyota Cup Team of the Year.
2010
In March, Lui re-signed for the Wests Tigers to the end of the 2012 season, with coach
Tim Sheens
Tim Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. Head Coach of the Australia national team between 2009 and 2015, he has also been the head coach of National Rugby League (NRL) clubs ...
describing him as, "an integral part of the team."
Lui was named to start the season at halfback, but suffered an injury in round 2. Upon his return, in round 10, he scored his first try. Lui played 17 games in 2010, improving as the season progressed, with one newspaper describing his last game of the year, in the preliminary final, as the, "best game of his career."
2011
Lui played in 23 games in 2011, scoring 5 tries. From round 17 onward, Lui was halfback as Wests Tigers won nine games straight, eventually losing in the semi-final. Lui was said to be, "the first halfback in years to properly gel with
Benji Marshall
Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played at or .
He previously played for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Bro ...
."
At the end of the 2011 season, Lui was released from his contract with the Wests Tigers after he was charged with assaulting his partner, Taleah Rae Backo, in her North Strathfield home. He had previously been charged with similar offences after an incident at the end of 2010 season, with those charges being dismissed in April. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his former partner and was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and fined $2000.
2012
Lui signed a two-year contract to play for his hometown team, the
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).
Sinc ...
. He made his debut for the Cowboys in Round 1, coming off the bench to play in the halves. The next few weeks Lui was pushed back to reserve grade to regain match fitness after his pre-season was hindered by a serious knee injury. He played in five games for the Northern Pride. Lui's 2012 campaign was cut short however after being suspended from playing any form of rugby league for the rest of the season after pleading guilty to an assault charge placed against him several months earlier. His ban was placed on him from Round 8. He was free to start playing rugby league again in the 2013 trials.
2013
Although being suspended for a majority of the 2012 season, Lui retained his job at the North Queensland Cowboys and remained training with the club full-time for the rest of his suspension. Before his suspension, Lui was regarded as a possible future representative player and was included in the 2011 Emerging Origin Squad for Queensland.
2014
In February 2014, Lui was a member of North Queensland's victorious
Auckland Nines
The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...
side. On 2 September 2014, Lui agreed to a one-year contract extension with the club, keeping him in Townsville until the end of 2015.
2015
Lui spent the majority of the 2015 season playing for North Queensland's feeder side, the
Townsville Blackhawks
The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...
. On 3 October, Lui signed a one-year deal with the
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
, reuniting him former coach
Tim Sheens
Tim Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. Head Coach of the Australia national team between 2009 and 2015, he has also been the head coach of National Rugby League (NRL) clubs ...
.
2016
Lui made a total of 21 appearances for Salford in 2016 scoring 11 tries.
2017
On 23 June 2017, Salford were up by three converted tries with less than five minutes to play against St Helens. St Helens then scored three converted tries in four minutes to make the score 24–24. With seconds remaining, Lui tried and in-field kick which was picked up by Saints player Matty Smith who kicked a long range field goal to win the match for St Helens 25–24.
On 27 June 2017, Lui signed a long-term contract to remain at Salford.
2018
Lui made 21 appearances for Salford in 2018 and finished as the top point scorer for the club. At the start of the year he was subject to a bid by
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...
which was rejected by Salford.
2019
Lui signed on loan from the
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
until the end of the 2019 season, and later signed a two-year contract with Leeds from the 2020 season onwards.
2020
On 17 October, Lui played in the
2020 Challenge Cup Final which Leeds won 17–16 over Salford at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
.
2021
Lui played a total of 11 games for Leeds in the
2021 Super League season
Super League XXVI, known as the Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain.
The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021, how ...
including the club's 36-8 loss against St Helens in the semi-final. The match was Lui's last as a player due to him announcing his retirement earlier in the year.
On 22 November 2021,it was reported that he had rejoined
Townsville Blackhawks
The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...
, a feeder club to the
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).
Sinc ...
Statistics
NRL
: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2014 season''
Personal life
Phillip Lui, Robert's father, played for Queensland A in the late 1980s.
Former Cowboys' teammate and good friend
Ray Thompson is godfather to Lui's son.
References
External links
Leeds Rhinos profileSalford Red Devils profileSL profileSalford Red Devils interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lui, Robert
1990 births
Living people
Australian rugby league players
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
Indigenous Australian rugby league players
Leeds Rhinos players
North Queensland Cowboys players
Northern Pride RLFC players
People educated at Keebra Park State High School
People educated at Kirwan State High School
Rugby league five-eighths
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Townsville
Salford Red Devils players
Torres Strait Islanders
Townsville Blackhawks players
Wests Tigers players