Leroy Carter’s dog has unusual taste in chew toys. She’s not into shoes or cushions – passports are more her thing.
“She just munches on them for some reason,” laughs the rugby star, who’s played winger for the All Blacks, Chiefs and Bay of Plenty.
But her newly discovered taste for travel documents came at the worst possible time – just a week before Leroy flew out to Singapore for his first- ever All Blacks call-up last year.
“I had to sort out an emergency one,” he recalls.
“I paid about $500 to get it fast.”
Thankfully, there were no such dramas before his recent tropical getaway to Fiji because Leroy, 27, had something even more precious tucked away in his luggage – an engagement ring!
A proposal in paradise
When Woman’s Day catches up with him and his fiancée Anika Russell at their Papamoa home, they’re just a week on from celebrating the moment he got down on one knee on a perfect white-sand beach.
“It actually went better than I thought it would,” he grins.
After picking up the ring in South Africa while on tour, he’d planned to propose to police officer Anika, 24, but wasn’t quite sure where. Then when a last-minute Fijian holiday came together, the timing felt right.
“There was no point just sitting on the ring,” shares Leroy.
“I knew I’d either lose it or she’d find it, so I was like, ‘Oh, this is probably perfect.’”
The big reveal
The Tauranga-born sporting hero kept the planned proposal a surprise from resort staff, but they still went all-out for their VIP guest, lining up private Fijian cooking classes and dinner for two in a beachside cabana.
During that evening meal, Leroy waited for Anika to get up from their table to take photos.
He laughs, “She took a while to do it, but once she’d finished, I was on one knee and she turned around.”
Anika continues, “I was so surprised. He’d been away for so long in South Africa, I just thought he wouldn’t have had time to organise anything.”
Written in the stars
Ten minutes after she said yes, the sky magically lit up.
Smiling, the bride-to-be explains, “It was the only night there was a sunset while we were there. It was just perfect timing.”
The smitten duo met through a mutual friend at a bar in Mount Maunganui in 2022, although Anika wasn’t especially impressed by his job.
She recalls, “He mentioned he played rugby, but I just thought it was maybe a hobby or something.”
Love brought her home
After they started dating, there was a hitch when Anika mentioned she’d already booked a one-way ticket to Australia to try life across the ditch with a friend.
She says, “The entire time we were seeing each other, that was always the plan. Anyway, he didn’t say don’t go, so I went.”
Thankfully, Anika eventually decided to come home and the couple has now been together for three years.
Leroy teases, “She missed me, so she came back!”
Love across the miles
Distance has been part of their story from day one. When they got together, Leroy was in his final year with the All Blacks Sevens and away every month. These days, Super Rugby keeps him in Hamilton with the Chiefs, while All Blacks duty takes him overseas for weeks at a time.
“We don’t know anything else,” Anika shrugs.
“We’ve been doing long distance our entire relationship. I’ve never had him home full-time.”
It’s harder on Anika, adds Leroy.
“I’m going and seeing 40 of my best mates every day, whereas she’s here by herself.”
The support that goes both ways
Not that she sits at home waiting. As soon as Leroy left for South Africa, Anika was back on the front line with the police.
She smiles, “A lot of people say I’m living the WAG life, but I don’t see it like that. I’m working full-time, often more hours than him. I’m still doing my own journey while supporting him.”
When we ask Leroy what he loves most about Anika, he doesn’t hesitate.
“She always makes sure I’m good. Whether that’s if I need something for rugby or making sure dinner’s sorted, she’s always looking after me.”
And the feeling is mutual, Anika continues, “He knows how important it is for us to stay connected while we’re apart. Even if it’s just a phone call, a text or sorting out any issues back here with the house, he’s still looking after me.”
Her only gripe is Leroy’s memory.
Anika sighs, “He just forgets everything!”
Living the All Blacks dream
Even Leroy agrees he’s not great with his words, so Anika’s put him on notice about his vows.
He’s already asked her, “Doesn’t someone write them for me?” To which she informed him, “No! You’ve got to think about what you want to say about me.”
Although Leroy’s rise in rugby has appeared lightning-fast from the outside, he insists it took time. After nine years growing up on the Gold Coast, he came home to attend Tauranga Boys’ College. He then spent almost three years missing out on contracts before rugby sevens came calling, at which point things moved quickly. Leroy went from the Olympic Games in Paris to a Chiefs deal, then the black jersey.
“Everyone dreams of becoming an All Black,” he smiles.
“It’s still a shock to say I’m an All Black. It’s wild.”
Of course, it hasn’t all been easy. After a tough outing in South Africa, Anika found the online commentary hard to read.
“You might have one bad game and 10 good ones, but they’ll only remember your bad game,” she says.
However, Leroy’s learning to take it in his stride.
He shrugs, “Everyone can have their opinion on the couch, but it’s not until you’re in the arena that you actually know what it’s like.”
A wedding in paradise
With the All Blacks season due to end next month, the lovebirds are looking forward to making the most of Leroy’s downtime. They hope to celebrate their engagement in early December, once he’s home from their Nations Championship games in the UK, and have set a wedding date for late 2028, after next year’s World Cup.
Rarotonga is high on the location wish list as Anika’s mum was born there, most of her family still lives there and her parents are about to retire to the island. When she took Leroy over earlier this year, her parents pointed out wedding venues over dinner.
“I love Raro,” says Leroy.
Family plans are still a way off. For now, their baby is Remis, the passport-munching pup. She joins them for runs and keeps up with Leroy far better than Anika does.
She laughs, “Leroy’s always saying, ‘You can go faster!’ and I’m like, ‘No, I really can’t!’”
But kids are firmly on the cards for the future.
“I love what I do for work,” says Anika.
“But if there’s the chance, I’d put work aside. We’re just trying to enjoy whatever’s happening for now. If it happens, it happens.”
