At the club, the new Wests Tigers recruit is immediately drawing attention.
After showing up to preseason training a week early, Jarome Luai, a new Wests Tigers acquisition, has proven to Benji Marshall and supporters why they have paid a lot of money to get him to the team. Luai became one of the highest-paid players in the NRL after being signed from the Panthers on a massive $6 million five-year contract.
The Samoan international left Penrith for his family because the Tigers were offering him a considerably better deal, even though he had just won three straight premierships with Penrith. Additionally, Tigers supporters are already anticipating his pairing with Lachlan Galvin, a bright talent, in the halves.
Luai’s decision to play for Samoa versus England in the post-NRL trip dealt Marshall a setback to his preseason preparations. This meant that because foreign players must take time off, he would have to wait to join his new teammates.
Additionally, Luai arrived early for Tigers training on Tuesday, joining fellow recruits Sunia Turuva, Royce Hunt, and Jack Bird. After finishing last three years in a row, the Tigers have been without a leader for years.
Even if Luai’s hiring seems to represent a change of leadership at the Tigers, there is still hope that the squad may turn things around. It’s also thought that Luau helped convince Terrell May to join the club.
The forward switched to join his Samoan colleague since the Roosters did not want him going into 2025. Galvin will only gain from spending more time with Luai before the new season, so Marshall can now focus on his new halves combination.
As he has stated that he will not be taking up any ‘player option’ in his contract, Luai’s goal also demonstrates his commitment to become a leader at the Tigers.
The return of Jarome Luai to Penrith was hurried.
The news that Luai might quit the Tigers after just two years since the last three years of his contract are “player options” only shocked supporters last week. The prospect that Luai might return to Penrith if things don’t work out with the Wests Tigers thrilled Panthers supporters.
Reporter Peter Lang, however, allayed hopes of this, noting that Luai’s perseverance has brought him to this point. “A lot of Panthers supporters have renewed hope that Jarome Luai will return to Penrith due to a clause in his contract which will allow him to leave the Tigers after two years if he wants to,” Lang said to social media.
“My personal opinion is that Luai will never return to the Panthers…he’s not a quitter.” Lang went on to say that Luai’s will to succeed at the Tigers should be sufficient for him to finish his contract, but that the Panthers’ wage constraint predicament would make it difficult to entice him back.
In 2025, the Wests Tigers are seeking a new beginning.
With a halfback and several forwards joining the team in some much-needed recruitment, Tigers supporters are now looking forward to a new season. The Tigers have spent close to $4 million on new players. Even though many people, like Phil Gould, believe the Tigers will rise quickly, if things don’t work out, Marshall may suffer a great deal.
Although they might have played a little better football, the Tigers still finished last in 2024, despite Marshall’s expectations that they would improve. Additionally, the coach has been told that he may be under more criticism if things don’t get better in 2025.
On paper, the wooden spoon is not going to be given to them. And this is the issue, correct? Now that they have the roster, the blowtorch will be firmly on Benji, and it will go off the admin and the players.
“Benji is a very skilled coach. In addition to being incredibly brilliant and possessing the emotional intelligence to understand his players, he is also a terrific guy to have around them, but he must maintain simplicity. I believe Benji occasionally attempts to overdo the instruction.
