A
Mt Wellington junior, in his career Leuluai played for the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles,
Wakefield Trinity,
Hull FC,
Leigh,
Ryedale-York and
Doncaster. Leuluai also represented the
New Zealand national rugby league team and
New Zealand Māori. Between 1979 and 1986 he played in 29 test matches for
New Zealand. His Hull FC début, alongside fellow débutant
Dane O'Hara and
Gary Kemble (who had already appeared) came on 27 September 1981 against Castleford. Achievements over the next year included helping Hull to win the John Player Trophy, also being Premiership runners-up, and of course to lift the 1982
Challenge Cup, the first time the Challenge Cup had been back at the Boulevard since 1914. A'au James Leuluai was an unused
interchange/
substitute in
Hull FC's 14–14 draw with
Widnes in the
1982 Challenge Cup Final during the
1981–82 season at
Wembley Stadium,
London on Saturday 1 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 92,147, and played at (
Terry Day having played in the first match) in the 18–9 victory over
Widnes in the
1982 Challenge Cup Final
replay during the
1981–82 season at
Elland Road,
Leeds on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171, Nicknamed "Lullaby", as he so often fell asleep off the field he was anything but sleepy on it, scoring many remarkable tries including what the Yorkshire Post described as "one of the greatest solo tries of all time" in the 1983 Challenge Cup semi-final victory over Castleford, passing four Castleford players and racing around half of the length of the field without a hand ever touching him until he had crossed the line. Leuluai played at and scored 2-
tries in
Hull FC's 24–28 defeat by
Wigan in the
1985 Challenge Cup Final during the
1984–85 season at
Wembley Stadium,
London on Saturday 4 May 1985, in front of a crowd of 99,801, in what is regarded as the most marvellous cup final in living memory, which Hull narrowly lost after fighting back from 12 to 28 down at half-time. Leuluai played at in
Hull FC's 18–7 victory over
Bradford Northern in the
1982 Yorkshire Cup Final during the
1982–83 season at
Elland Road,
Leeds on Saturday 2 October 1982, played at in the 13–2 victory over
Castleford in the
1983 Yorkshire Cup Final during the
1983–84 season at
Elland Road,
Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1983, and played on the in the 29–12 victory over
Hull Kingston Rovers in the
1984 Yorkshire Cup Final during the
1984–85 season at
Boothferry Park,
Kingston upon Hull on Saturday 27 October 1984. Leuluai played at in
Hull FC's 12–4 victory over
Hull Kingston Rovers in the
1981–82 John Player Trophy Final during the
1981–82 season at
Headingley,
Leeds on Saturday 23 January 1982, played at in the 12–0 victory over
Hull Kingston Rovers in the
1984–85 John Player Special Trophy Final during the
1984–85 season at
Boothferry Park,
Kingston upon Hull on Saturday 26 January 1985. In 1986/7, after failing to agree a new contract with Hull he was transfer listed at £50,000. "Jimmy" subsequently played 6 games on loan to Leigh before returning to the Boulevard for 3 more games and a further 27 in 1987 / 88. In October 1988 he then signed for Wakefield Trinity, making his début in the 12–34 defeat by
Wigan at
Central Park,
Wigan, playing 51 times over 2 seasons and scoring 12 tries. In 1990/91 he moved to Ryedale-York, playing 7 matches and scoring 2 tries before ending his UK career at Doncaster the same year with 13 games and 1 try. His last match on UK soil was a Doncaster home game to Leigh on 14 April 1991, played in front of just 1,557, a rather sad end to a great Rugby League career Such was their subsequent commitment to the British game that Leuluai, and his Hull counterparts Gary Kemble & Dane O'Hara (Fred Ah Kuoi had served 4 years with the Club at this point and so would not be eligible until the following year), saw the Government & Rugby Football League change rules and by laws regarding overseas players in 1986 to take those who had shown such commitment outside of the overseas player quotas. After he had finished his English career, Leuluai returned to New Zealand and started playing for
Wellington. He helped them defeat
Auckland for the first time in 75 years. It was during this time in Wellington that Leuluai began his coaching career. ==Coaching career==