The Newcastle Knights and Joey Leilua have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the season.
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The centre triggered a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave the club at the end of 2015 should coach Wayne Bennett leave the club.
Bennett returned to the Brisbane Broncos for the 2015 season, and AAP reports Leilua will now likely sign for the Canberra Raiders.
Knights football director Michael Hagan said the club was disappointed to lose the the 23-year-old, but said both parties reached a fair agreement.
“Joey is a quality player and we are disappointed to lose him for next season however we certainly wanted to work with him to reach an amicable outcome for both parties,” Hagan said in a club statement.
Leilua said he now wanted to focus on finishing off the season well with the Knights.
“This is a personal decision for me and I want to thank the Knights for working through it with me,” Leilua said.
“Now that it is finalised, I want to focus on playing good football for the Knights and finishing off the season well.”
Leilua joined the Knights in 2013 and has since played 50 first-grade games for the club.
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