However, Newcastle coach Rick Stone is adamant the 23-year-old Samoan international remains committed to the Knights for the rest of this year, and hopes he continues to play like he did in their 22-12 victory over Wests Tigers at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.

The former City Origin representative and one-time NSW shadow player scored Newcastle's go-ahead try in the 55th minute, then his charge for the line in the 77th set up the play-the-ball for dummy-half Chad Redman to score the clincher.

Leilua ran 14 times for 125 metres, made four tackle breaks, two offloads and 11 tackles, and caused the Tigers' right-edge defenders problems every time he ran.

Only seven days earlier, his attitude had been questioned after an indifferent performance in Newcastle's 30-10 loss to Manly at Brookvale Oval.

Leilua was contracted to the Knights until the end of 2016 but has activated a get-out clause and been granted a release at the end of this season.

It has been widely reported that Canberra are favourites to sign him for next year and beyond but Stone has no plans to release him before the June 30 transfer deadline.

"Let's get one thing clear. 'BJ' (Leilua) has activated a clause in his contract, that he had the right to do, to change clubs," Stone said.

"We haven't let him go. BJ has decided that he wanted to go so let's make that nice and clear, first and foremost.

"If I had my way, I wouldn't be letting him go, because he's a quality player and he was committed to the club for another year, but he's had a clause in his contract so he's activated that and he's decided to go.

"I spoke to BJ about that and said if you're going to invoke that clause, you've got to buy in and get some cred off the boys in how you play and how you train, so we've had some good strong talks over the last couple of weeks about what he's going to do.

"He's pretty up-front and forthright about what he's doing and what he would like to do, so his job is to continue to play with that sort of passion and that sort of desire and that sort of energy for the rest of the year."

It was reported that Leilua did not attend a function for Knights members on Saturday, apparently earning the ire of Stone and skipper Kurt Gidley. That issue was not raised at the post-match media conference on Sunday night but Gidley said he hoped Leilua played with the same power and purpose for the rest of the season that he demonstrated against the Tigers.

"BJ is a wonderful talent. He's big, aggressive, and I love playing alongside him when he's in that frame of mind," Gidley said.

"That's what we need out of him each week, and even at training during the week, so that's what we want for the rest of year out of him."