Jarome Luai skips Wests Tigers awards night to sign off on fresh PNG sponsorship deal
Brent Read and
Michael Carayannis
News Sport Network
Jarome Luai is facing fresh scrutiny after missing the Wests Tigers’ end-of-season awards on Tuesday night.
It is understood Tigers officials were aware he would not be attending because he had a conflict with his commitments with the Samoan rugby league.
Luai posted footage of himself at Taumeasinau Island in Samoa on Tuesday and tagged in the Samoan rugby league.
It comes as
Luai’s move to PNG continues to be a gold mine for the former Tigers star after he landed one of the biggest third party deals in NRL history.
Luai, who already had an agreement in place to be the
face of Pepsi in the Pacific, has signed a long-term deal to promote PNG consumer brand Trukai Industries.
Parramatta-bound Jarome Luai signed off on his latest PNG Chiefs third party sponsor.
Alex Twal was named player of the year for the struggling club. Luai has already announced he will leave the Tigers at the end of the season as he prepares to spend next season at Parramatta before moving to PNG to join the Chiefs for their inaugural season in the NRL.
He will arrive armed with the richest portfolio of third party deals in the NRL. His latest deal with Trukai Industries is for four years and it is understood it is one of the most significant third party agreements in the history of the game.
Trukai Industries is one of PNG’s biggest consumer brands and majority-owned by the SunRice Group. They already have Gold Coast forward and PNG international Cooper Bai on their books.
Luai’s deal was negotiated by GamePlan Sports and in partnership with Black Money Enterprises.
Luai’s latest third party bonanza is a sign of the changing shape of the commercial market in PNG in the wake of the Chiefs’ addition to the competition.
Jarome Luai is the face of Pepsi in PNG.
Major long-term partnerships are now opening up for Chiefs-bound stars and Luai’s camp have been quick to act after he was announced as the team’s first signing.
The Eels are aware that he will join the club with a handful of PNG third party deals in his kit bag. It means at times next season he may need to travel to PNG to meet the demands of those agreements.
While the Tigers were uncomfortable with the prospect of Luai working in PNG while under contract to them, the Eels believe they can make it work.
Luai, meanwhile, continues to rake in the cash in the wake of his decision to join PNG as their first signing. It is understood another major deal is in the final stages of coming to fruition as he stands to earn upwards of $1 million a season from third party deals to go along with his tax-free $1.2 million salary with the Chiefs.