OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

It’s tough to put your finger on it. Despite his energy and defence the teams looks uncoordinated in attack, and that comes down to Luai and to a lesser extent Api in organising the shape and running plays.

That said though, every time I watch a highlight of something we do good, I see the skill and ability that Luai demonstrates in creating space through his deception and crisp passing game.

This is obviously missed by the naked eye.

In terms of kicking, yes he does not find the glass, but he kicks a contestable kick in a square box of about 10 in 10 or 20 out from the try line nearly every time.

Another point, sure he had a decent stint last year running the team off the back of the Panthers go forward and drilled shape. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to look exactly the same at the Tigers.

He showed that form in a 5 time grand finalist side not a 3 time wooden spoon side, albeit some personal changes have occured in both teams since both examples but last year he was directing a team that had been coached, drilled and skilled to be at the top of their game for 5 seasons straight. That is not the Tigers even with our new recruits.

Finally, our shape is completely different to Penrith and even the Tigers Benji was once staring in.
We play a very flat shape, even with our block plays being played at very accute angles (see the Sam Fainu try).
This is affecting Luai’s time and space with the ball but in conjunction it is getting our receivers over the Avantage line and playing with a lot of momentum at the line not behind the line.

Luai is not Benji, as much as you want it to be the case, he has still nailed excellent kicks in goal, contestable mid to end field kicks and passes so slick that Galvin looks like he is walking on water once he receives the ball.

I’m not worried.
 
Jolls said:
I get the angst witn Romey's performance in attack with both ball and boot. He isn't the strongest kicker in the game so it is something he definitely needs to work on. With ball in hand though I think he is a biut like Api when he first got here - two steps in front to the support play. In addtion I think he has grown up playing a different style. Let me give you an example of how different it may be for him. We hear is on the forum plenty of times - players need to run into holes, ot at spaces not faces etc.

This is not how I think Luai leaned to play the game - he is of a different school where you move the faces to create spaces. So for support players from a different background running a line at a player instaed of a hole is difficult. It is also difficult because in this case the should you are running off, inside or outside, is dictated by the ball carrier not the "hole runner". It also causes timing issues as the support players need to provide enough depth for the ball player to shift the defender to create the hole. The Bula missed pass that led to a penalty in the first half is an example of the ball runner not bing where he was expected to be. Had Bula taken that ball it could have been anything.

It is certainly not rocket science but when Luai switches between shoveling it off, to a big left step to a subtle change of pace and or direction the support player needs to be in the right place in time and space to benefit from his work. This happened regularly at the Riff so it isn't like he can't do it well - the problem is just as likely to be that the support players can't read him well. It is improving though.

While most of the credit for the first try on Sunday went to Galvin but credit needs to be given to the pass prior from Luia, digging into the line to and playing behind May with Galvin on the sweep into the gap between Hynes and Ramien. The rest was pretty simple football Galvin catch the ball drawing Hyes and Ramien - Sam F into a clear backfield.

I think Sam Fs improvement over the last few weeks can be attributed to his adjustment to Luai's style. The same can't be said on the other edge where Galvin's coordination with Seyfarth is much less potent; having said that Star is relishing his digs into the line.

What I would like to see him do is run more; however, that could well be under Benji's instruction.

I'm confident it will continue to develop and by round 27 we will see a completely different Tigers than we are seeing now.
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Benji is trying to turn Sam F into a gap runner out wide just as we used Garner and how the raiders use Hudson Young...early days but if he has the speed and smarts could be a weapon
 
Demps said:
Richo mentioned they arranged some off field deals for Galvin, within his deal.

Wonder if the same was made for Luai, as he seems to promote a lot.

Binge ad with the Tiger and the Hydreau Drink. Decent ways to make money, outside of the cap..

Smart business.
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I’d say for sure D, his face has been popping up all over the place .
 
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
 
Needaname said:
It’s tough to put your finger on it. Despite his energy and defence the teams looks uncoordinated in attack, and that comes down to Luai and to a lesser extent Api in organising the shape and running plays.

That said though, every time I watch a highlight of something we do good, I see the skill and ability that Luai demonstrates in creating space through his deception and crisp passing game.

This is obviously missed by the naked eye.

In terms of kicking, yes he does not find the glass, but he kicks a contestable kick in a square box of about 10 in 10 or 20 out from the try line nearly every time.

Another point, sure he had a decent stint last year running the team off the back of the Panthers go forward and drilled shape. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to look exactly the same at the Tigers.

He showed that form in a 5 time grand finalist side not a 3 time wooden spoon side, albeit some personal changes have occured in both teams since both examples but last year he was directing a team that had been coached, drilled and skilled to be at the top of their game for 5 seasons straight. That is not the Tigers even with our new recruits.

Finally, our shape is completely different to Penrith and even the Tigers Benji was once staring in.
We play a very flat shape, even with our block plays being played at very accute angles (see the Sam Fainu try).
This is affecting Luai’s time and space with the ball but in conjunction it is getting our receivers over the Avantage line and playing with a lot of momentum at the line not behind the line.

Luai is not Benji, as much as you want it to be the case, he has still nailed excellent kicks in goal, contestable mid to end field kicks and passes so slick that Galvin looks like he is walking on water once he receives the ball.

I’m not worried.
Click to expand...
Other thing aswell is Penrith are much more structured in attack, if Benji is just telling Galvin to play footy, it would make it tough atm for Luai to adjust. Bloke in a bar podcast were saying that virtually everytime Galvin has got into or someone else into space was because Luai engaged the defence to make a wee bit more space before giving the pass to Galvin.
 
liltiger said:
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
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We’ve been saying that on here for weeks. I dare say they read the forum.
 
liltiger said:
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
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But that's what he was known for at Penrith

At Penrith he was the guy who pushed everyone at training I can not remember his nickname at training but it was something like the energy machine
 
liltiger said:
Other thing aswell is Penrith are much more structured in attack, if Benji is just telling Galvin to play footy, it would make it tough atm for Luai to adjust. Bloke in a bar podcast were saying that virtually everytime Galvin has got into or someone else into space was because Luai engaged the defence to make a wee bit more space before giving the pass to Galvin.
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Some great observations above and some other posts a little earlier.

Building on what you are saying, Luai ever so slightly straightens when he receives the ball. He does it with his outside leg and torso. Two relatively small movements, yet you watch his defender and the cover from the inside. They hesitate. Not every time, but enough.

Then add in the crisp pass and he has created 2 more seconds for the backline. Galvin and Co 100% benefit from this. It doesn’t show on the stats… but it is there.
 
liltiger said:
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
Click to expand...
He didn’t play the broncos game (even further to your point
 
Needaname said:
It’s tough to put your finger on it. Despite his energy and defence the teams looks uncoordinated in attack, and that comes down to Luai and to a lesser extent Api in organising the shape and running plays.

That said though, every time I watch a highlight of something we do good, I see the skill and ability that Luai demonstrates in creating space through his deception and crisp passing game.

This is obviously missed by the naked eye.

In terms of kicking, yes he does not find the glass, but he kicks a contestable kick in a square box of about 10 in 10 or 20 out from the try line nearly every time.

Another point, sure he had a decent stint last year running the team off the back of the Panthers go forward and drilled shape. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to look exactly the same at the Tigers.

He showed that form in a 5 time grand finalist side not a 3 time wooden spoon side, albeit some personal changes have occured in both teams since both examples but last year he was directing a team that had been coached, drilled and skilled to be at the top of their game for 5 seasons straight. That is not the Tigers even with our new recruits.

Finally, our shape is completely different to Penrith and even the Tigers Benji was once staring in.
We play a very flat shape, even with our block plays being played at very accute angles (see the Sam Fainu try).
This is affecting Luai’s time and space with the ball but in conjunction it is getting our receivers over the Avantage line and playing with a lot of momentum at the line not behind the line.

Luai is not Benji, as much as you want it to be the case, he has still nailed excellent kicks in goal, contestable mid to end field kicks and passes so slick that Galvin looks like he is walking on water once he receives the ball.

I’m not worried.
Click to expand...
Top post

He has matured so much in 3 years or so, probably 21 & 22 he was the player I hated most in the comp, I saw him mellow and mature the following couple of years...wether that occured naturally or he and the panthers worked on it.

Hes become a real leader and is a huge recruit for us, much like Darren Smith NQ, Ben Kennedy manly, Luke Lewis and Wade graham at the sharks they all brought leadership, respect and a culture shift to their new clubs.
The question is who will learn off him and follow in his footsteps in a few years when he finished up...we need to look ahead now and plan for a long stay at the pointy end of the comp, not a 14 week rapid rise to premiers like in 05 and then a sudden nose dive
 
liltiger said:
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
Click to expand...
Did you see when Naden took a Stonestreet out? He waited but moved before Luai had effected the tackle. That's how much trust he had that he would tackle him. If it was Nofo geez.
 
liltiger said:
Was listening to the Bloke in a bar podcast, the guys there made a great point about Luai I never even thought of tbh. They were discussing origin halves and looked at Luais stats for this season so far and compared to his previous years they're below bog average, but they said it's no accident the Tigers now have defensive resolve, are always in games baring the Broncs game, have the ability to fight back. They said even though his stats don't show it, it's the intangible things he brings to a team, he's a winner, he just knows winning. They were saying that it's the intensity he makes the guys around him train with, it's getting into their ears when the opposition has scored, he just fights. They said you can't really measure those things. It's the things off the ball that atm his value is for the Tigers, they said its no coincidence the Tigers have found some starch since Luai got in the joint. They also had massive wraps on May. But they said without Luai they wernt sur if we would be 4 - 4 atm.
Click to expand...
I might be going crazy but Luai could be the best defensive half I've ever seen since Andrew Johns.

Something else I heard is that at Penrith they had a culture of putting positive reinforcement on the players and not abusing each other. They'd tell you if you did something wrong sure but in a constructive manner and more for education's sake, not as an emotional response. Anyone remember how David Nofoaluma used to react when something went wrong? Luai is totally not a toxic personality like that. The opposite in fact.

Last week I said that Luai lost his NSW jumper to Moses. But now that I think about it, it's actually Cleary who should be left out considering the form of Penrith. Moses/Luai is the incumbent winning combo and should be given the first crack.
 
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