OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

mtd#2 said:
You cant take money to the grave, but you can feed your 4 children with it. I dont think any different of him. He came to the tigers for money, its only fitting he also leaves for money. Club is in a better place than when he got here. It business. Its life. Move on and enjoy him while we have him. I think his best is yet to come.
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Family is essential to a successful daily and working life. A captain has to set standards, so my concern is with his comment -

“I’m staying, don’t worry, for life. I think when things get hard, people sort of expect you to change, and I’m not that type of guy. I’m here for the long run, and I’m here to turn this club around.”
 
TIGERS said:
Seasons not over yet and neither is his tenure at the club.

Everyone here will change directions with the prevailing winds like whatever they've spent years moaning about no longer exists. Just like with Adam Doueihi and Alex Twal. We've lost a couple of games with lots of lads out injured. We're in the top 6. The context of our defeat to the Sharks and Storm, 2 great sides, is yet to be seen.

People negging on here will change their tune regardless of what happens with Luai. This is actually the Wests Tigers post-rationalisation forum.
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I get that, but something stinks.

I believe that Jarome will try and recruit our players and Benji knows it -

‘A negative smell’: Benji’s honest admission as Tigers coach vows to ‘find’ answers'​

 
Leck said:
I get that, but something stinks.

I believe that Jarome will try and recruit our players and Benji knows it -

‘A negative smell’: Benji’s honest admission as Tigers coach vows to ‘find’ answers'​

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Rock fever - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

There's a lot of podcaster and media polish glossing over the reality of PNG. Luai swapped a big payday for an even bigger payday. It's a foolish, naively ego driven decision. It a disgrace that these negotiations can even take place mid season.

But not every 23 year old prospect is going to want to live in some boring, isolated secure compound in Port Moresby over Sydney.
 
It makes no sense that people are being critical of him now in performances where we've been totally thumped across the park that has nothing to do with him, but defended him when we had all the ball in the world in attacking position and produced nothing.

He is what he is and he's performed the same the past 2 weeks as the rest of his time here, save the game against the Cowboys rd1.

He's an average NRL five-eighth who's had an absolutely charmed career that's not reflective of his true ability. He's a 600-700k a year player on 1.2m. He's a got a great personality and is a leader no doubt, but as much as that helps set up a squad, it doesn't really help his individual performance on the field.
 
I doubt the players care that he's leaving that much. On the outside, he seems well respected and his decision as well.

It is so far different to Galvin, it's not funny.

As for his on-field performances, it's a little tricky. He is always behind the ball and a genuine option in attack which means he's putting in the effort, his D is still good other than the escort penalties.

He is putting in effort and the team seems to respect him.

I don't think Luai will be dropped because he's not the reason we are playing crap. That being said, if the Grand Final was tomorrow and the whole team was available, I'd have Douehi at 6 and Madden at 7.

We need to make Luai a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Use his reach with the players, use what the team perceives as his leadership to get the affect out of the team.
 
tig_prmz said:
I doubt the players care that he's leaving that much. On the outside, he seems well respected and his decision as well.
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They don’t because they understand how it works. And they know it could always be them one day. Forget what he said, he had a clause and he activated it. He’s not doing anything the club wasn’t anticipating was a possibility.
 
Buttface said:
To many baked beans?

Yep he did that for us/himself, why wouldn’t he do it again. That’s why it was important to get TDM down long term.
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The smell is wafting from the person sitting next to Benji during the media conference - who has been ‘playing dead’ for the past 2 weeks with the burden of NOW empty, dead comments of loyalty that have slipped through his lips since arriving on an over-inflated salary, albeit minus tax obligations - just as us mere mortals cop on our meagre salaries, in comparison.
I’m not dirty on Laui’s move to PNG, I’m actually relieved that we are not burdened for the whole 4 seasons with this mediocrity - merely ‘Dancing With The Stars’ out on the field instead of driving the team forward and hemming the opposition into a corner.
Adam Doueihe has been the REAL ‘Man’ and I love his passion for this club!
Adam does not seek notoriety, happy to be ‘The Man’ without the title or fuss.
Luai has been good for morale and mate ship but that job is largely cemented however we purchased much more!
Latu and Javin have so much promise and they would have withered on the vine if Luai was to remain for the full term.
Credit to Luai for talking himself up and creating a successful Brand around himself but it’s mostly undeserved and unrealised, I believe.
It takes more than long, flowing locks to make ‘The Man’
 
GNR4LIFE said:
They don’t because they understand how it works. And they know it could always be them one day. Forget what he said, he had a clause and he activated it. He’s not doing anything the club wasn’t anticipating was a possibility.
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We can't have so many bitter break ups.

Even if Luai had done something slightly wrong ethically, you just let it go and show support. He is here for another year and a half. We gotta learn to start taking positives with this and not negatives.

You win games when players are happy and feel well looked after. If you keep pissing media off and players off, you just invite discontent among the team.

Luai is here and we need to use his skills of being able to gel the team together to get the best out of them.
 
tig_prmz said:
We can't have so many bitter break ups.

Even if Luai had done something slightly wrong ethically, you just let it go and show support. He is here for another year and a half. We gotta learn to start taking positives with this and not negatives.

You win games when players are happy and feel well looked after. If you keep pissing media off and players off, you just invite discontent among the team.

Luai is here and we need to use his skills of being able to gel the team together to get the best out of them.
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Exactly this. Luai has Benji's and the clubs blessing. It's no coincidence that him leaving resulted in contracts that have been hanging for months to be secured - and we have probably over paid on these deals as well but that is where we are at as a club.
Bagging the people that have achieved success from where we sit as a club is not helpful in being taken seriously.
 
Lukic said:
It makes no sense that people are being critical of him now in performances where we've been totally thumped across the park that has nothing to do with him, but defended him when we had all the ball in the world in attacking position and produced nothing.

He is what he is and he's performed the same the past 2 weeks as the rest of his time here, save the game against the Cowboys rd1.

He's an average NRL five-eighth who's had an absolutely charmed career that's not reflective of his true ability. He's a 600-700k a year player on 1.2m. He's a got a great personality and is a leader no doubt, but as much as that helps set up a squad, it doesn't really help his individual performance on the field.
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If you separate his attack and his defense I think you get a slightly different conclusion.

He’s an ultimate competitor and his side of the field is generally pretty hard to crack on D. That’s elite for a playmaker.

With the ball he’s an x-factor guy who doesn’t do game management. If we thought that’s what we were buying that’s our fault, not his.
 
Leck said:
I understand that money is important, but what about integrity and standing by your word? In the end, you can’t take money to the grave, but your reputation will be etched on your epitaph and in people’s memories.

Unfortunately for me, I’ve lost respect for Jarome.
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My view is that Jerome always had a belief that he would be a success at 7, he was the dominant 7 through the junior ranks and was always better than Cleary. Probably feels he got screwed by the Ivan/nathan dynamic and he came to the west tigers with a view to nailing down that 7 spot and showing the world how good he is. The clauses were not get out clauses they were salary renegotiation clauses, so he could get the $$ he believed he would be worth when he turned the club around and showed what he could do as a controlling half.....well we all saw how that turned out and what were the final nails in the coffin were the success of the team while he was out injured. I think his confidence has taken a big hit and the PNG move is one where he can get that massive payday because his worth is not going up in the rest of the NRL, so when he said he was in for the long haul, I actually think he genuinely believed it, because without the PNG option he was not planning on going anywhere else. Now the problem for us over the next 18 months is a Jerome without confidence and swagger is not a player that will deliver for us on the field. Benji needs to get him to believe in himself again and get out of this passive style of play that we are seeing.
 
Tom Shines said:
Hopefully he is trying to recruit Toa
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Fingers crossed.

T’oa is a tough one because he’s a decent defender. However, since coming from Newcastle, he has declined in attack and hasn’t shown any signs of growth. Although this could be due to our tumultuous club and coaching situation since 2022 -

His stats since 2022:

Tries per game: 0.55 → 0.297 = 46% decrease
Points per game: 2.20 → 1.188 = 47% decrease
Tackle efficiency: 92% → 91% = 1.09% decrease
 
Leck said:
Fingers crossed.

T’oa is a tough one because he’s a decent defender. However, since coming from Newcastle, he has declined in attack and hasn’t shown any signs of growth. Although this could be due to our tumultuous club and coaching situation since 2022 -

His stats since 2022:

Tries per game: 0.55 → 0.297 = 46% decrease
Points per game: 2.20 → 1.188 = 47% decrease
Tackle efficiency: 92% → 91% = 1.09% decrease
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His arm is not right and he has no confidence in his ability to fend, a shadow of the player that started season 2025.
 
Luai being given the blessing of the club to talk to PNG, then the subsequent re-investment into the players coming off contract should say a lot more positive than it seems to get credit for.

I don't know if Luai would have pushed to leave had Benji not wanted it. But the club has not one, but 2 progression plans in place with Latu & Javon Andrews. And the large amount of money invested in Luai is now able to retain the key components of the squad.

Luai knows that PNG aren't going to win him a comp. He's getting a massive cash injection at the prime moment of his career. I honestly don't believe he has any intention of taking a swathe of Tigers with him. Playing for PNG is a life decision, not a career decision. You're going there knowing that team won't be competing for a while for honours, but you are able to set yourself up for later life.

At most, we are at risk of losing players either on the fringe or coming to the end of their careers to PNG.
 
Leck said:
I get that, but something stinks.

I believe that Jarome will try and recruit our players and Benji knows it -

‘A negative smell’: Benji’s honest admission as Tigers coach vows to ‘find’ answers'​

Click to expand...
The things that stinks is having to play 5-6 reserve grade players in our starting line up against the Storm in an afternoon game at home. None bar the very elite make a difference on Sunday
 
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