OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

[wstigers11]

Even if you’ve got a 3 on 3 and weapons out wide, give them a chance with some early ball.

Old Milky is scoring tries for fun out wide, that’s where the holes are.

Yeah early ball goes a long way

 

[EllisFan]

Yeah early ball goes a long way

He got the memo for the Knights game but Brisbane countered that with a more aggressive defense and the ref got tired of calling six agains.

Should of been a sin bin in H1.

 

[Tom Shines]

I’m not laying the blame squarely on AD.

But I think you’ll find I’ve been beating the Madden drum since the trials and the evidence is piling up.

You haven’t been the only one who wants Madden at 7 ..plenty have including myself after the Knights game …AD is not a good halves partner for Luai …but there are deficiencies in Luai’s game too … he plays very sideways and that is something that needs to be addressed regardless of who he plays with

 

[Tom Shines]

Fair

But a good 6 generally has a good 7 inside of him.

Luai hasnt played a single game here along side a true #7

Yes ..a reasonable point …

Lot of expectations on Madden then to be that guy …

 

[EllisFan]

You haven’t been the only one who wants Madden at 7 ..plenty have including myself after the Knights game …AD is not a good halves partner for Luai …but there are deficiencies in Luai’s game too … he plays very sideways and that is something that needs to be addressed regardless of who he plays with

Yeah, it’s similar to Api, he’s not a conventional footy player. Lucky we have some talented kids and a coach who played his own way as well.

It’ll be fun to watch them develop together.

 

[Funnel Webb]

This difference in point of view comes down to personality differences. It would be good if all the players were robots with no emotion. Most aren’t.

They get paid on average $450k a year to win games. They should be content with whatever will get them the results on the field. They seem to do better with Madden on the field. But maybe it could all work out and Luai could be a $1.2 million back seat five-eighth with Madden winning us games over the 80 minutes. Only problem is if Madden keeps playing like how he has we might not have enough money for the controlling half we've always needed. But for now Doueihi and Madden are clearly working.

 

[Tom Shines]

Yeah, it’s similar to Api, he’s not a conventional footy player. Lucky we have some talented kids and a coach who played his own way as well.

It’ll be fun to watch them develop together.

Api is playing very well though …

I’m sure he will go wih Madden this week ..I think that it will straighten things up… let’s hope it unlocks Luai as you suggest …because we need him

 

[EllisFan]

Api is playing very well though …

I’m sure he will go wih Madden this week ..Im think that it will straighten things up… let’s hope it unlocks Luai as you suggest …because we need him

That’s a big part of it.

Jocks kicking game was also strangling sides and creating more fatigue and more attacking opportunities.

I hope you’re right.

 

[Chunk]

We do have a choice, he has a get out clause if he's unhappy not playing. Team first. We don't have to back a player that hasn't gotten us any results his whole time of being here then we magically get them with another player.

We spent 1.2M on him and he has so much infleunce over the team, we have to back him.

I reckon he'd be the first to say he hasn't played as well as he would of liked so it's far too early to ditch him.

He has pedigree & legacy so lets give him a chance

 

[Jolls]

You haven’t been the only one who wants Madden at 7 ..plenty have including myself after the Knights game …AD is not a good halves partner for Luai …but there are deficiencies in Luai’s game too … he plays very sideways and that is something that needs to be addressed regardless of who he plays with

...and therein lies the problem. Two sideways halves in the team one wearing 6 and the other 7. Not too hard to figure out ... go back to the deep dive on it done in the pre-season - covers the issues we are having. Madden with AD or Luai will most likely work and AD and Luai can still work if we figure out how to overcome the up and in defence.

The system is working; but the better teams are able to get in the arm wrestle with us using the up and in defence. We need to be better at predicting and reacting. If we can predict how they are going to defend against our style we can plan for an attack that style.

This is not the time to change anything significantly - we are still early in the season and we are very much in a development phase. This probably isn't the time to experiment - but injuries will give us opportunities soon enough.

You would swear that we had been beaten by 50 on the weekend!

 

[Funnel Webb]

We spent 1.2M on him and he has so much infleunce over the team, we have to back him.

I reckon he'd be the first to say he hasn't played as well as he would of liked so it's far too early to ditch him.

He has pedigree & legacy so lets give him a chance

Yeah maybe you're right, it's possible he could work with Madden. I just don't like Doueihi in the centres or giving him less game time coming off the bench as lock and having to give Twal less minutes.

 

[Tom Shines]

That’s a big part of it.

Jocks kicking game was also strangling sides and creating more fatigue and more attacking opportunities.

I hope you’re right.

I’m sure we both want the same thing ..👍

Unlike perhaps a few others around … i actually want to see Luai playing well and contributing to the team winning games on the field ..i know he is capable of it

 

[EllisFan]

I’m sure we both want the same thing ..👍

Unlike perhaps a few others around … i actually want to see Luai playing well and contributing to the team winning games on the field ..i know he is capable of it

Luai has won 7 out of his last 8 against the Raiders I believe, a team you can strip on the edges. 🤞

 

[bptiger 0]

Broncos had more rep players in their team than we did.

Yes every one forgets they had more class players than u think , really only missing the finger painting player and cardigan

 

[Tom Shines]

...and therein lies the problem. Two sideways halves in the team one wearing 6 and the other 7. Not too hard to figure out ... go back to the deep dive on it done in the pre-season - covers the issues we are having. Madden with AD or Luai will most likely work and AD and Luai can still work if we figure out how to overcome the up and in defence.

The system is working; but the better teams are able to get in the arm wrestle with us using the up and in defence. We need to be better at predicting and reacting. If we can predict how they are going to defend against our style we can plan for an attack that style.

This is not the time to change anything significantly - we are still early in the season and we are very much in a development phase. This probably isn't the time to experiment - but injuries will give us opportunities soon enough.

You would swear that we had been beaten by 50 on the weekend!

Personally .. I am not one suggesting the sky is falling, or see the need for major changes … but I don’t see Luai as a sacred cow that is beyond/exempt from criticism… Im also not advocating his removal from the 6 either

Go to Madden by all means … Where do you want to play AD ? He is one of our better players and needs to be there somewhere…

I think most teams this year are going to come at them with this up and in lock down physical defence…you don’t need to be a super team though to pull it off…Parramatta did it to Canterbury yesterday … it’s worked against us twice now ..and I keep saying it’s a copycat league so expect to see more of it against us

Be good to be working on ways around it …. Inside passes to Bula might be a good start

 

[lathami]

Sorry, but losing that match falls squarely on Makasini and a terrible call on Api that locks the game up. I'd also argue the try where Willison was held was a poor call too, which led to another try after.

We were ahead and coming home with a wet sail before Mak decided to shit the bed.

Agree with most of your comments but Luai still played poorly. Dropped a ball when we were on the their line. Kicked a ball dead and didn’t really offer much in attack.
In regards to Maka that started as Bula was injured and should of been taken off, he then takes a ball at the back doesn’t want to get hit do passes the ball to maka who then drop it. He losses his confidence then the next easy drop. But to be fair their fullback dropped what 3 or 4 bombs, we fail to take advantage.
The spi one was shocking and again as stated previously I hear nothing in the media in relation to that incident!

 

[hank37w]

It's a difficult decision for sure. One thing I can guarantee based on their personalities is that Benji and Luai will both address this issue.

The facts are Luai inside Opp 20 was poor last year too. He is struggling with attack, for sure. He is struggling to use Fainu and May outside him. I think the 2025 pre-season at halfback has changed him. He is capable of attacking, there is no doubt, but something is missing.

However, there is so much more to a team than just attack in Opp 20 (regardless of that being a halves job). The stability, leadership, communication, defence and confidence he gives others plays a big factor.

When you drop a player like Luai, the whole dynamic shifts. Madden played 3 games basically without pressure. He knew he was just warming the seat until Luai comes back so he could play without fear. But, would he perform the same way knowing that the current Origin half was dropped for him? Imagine the pressure that brings on him.

Further, you also need to think about the entire season. With added pressure on Api in attack and added pressure on Taylan May in D, do they perform the same way?

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. If we are playing a do or die game today, the answer is different. But with 2/3 of the season left, the answer might be to keep Luai while Benji works with him on his deficiences.

We will never get to know the inside conversations, but based on everything they've said so far, I think they will have honest conversations as adults and I can't imagine Luai having an ego if he's called out on his lack of performance.

Still we are in a much better position than ever before. We have 4 first grade halves, we've often struggled for 1.

Good post, something for forum members to consider.

 

[EllisFan]

Personally .. I am not one suggesting the sky is falling, or see the need for major changes … but I don’t see Luai as a sacred cow that is beyond/exempt from criticism… Im also not advocating his removal from the 6 either

Go to Madden by all means … Where do you want to play AD ? He is one of our better players and needs to be there somewhere…

I think most teams this year are going to come at them with this up and in lock down physical defence…you don’t need to be a super team though to pull it off…Parramatta did it to Canterbury yesterday … it’s worked against us twice now ..and I keep saying it’s a copycat league so expect to see more of it against us

Be good to be working on ways around it …. Inside passes to Bula might be a good start

Re the rushing defense, Luai just needs time to sum it up. He’s a master of the little poke in behind, of if they rush him he can hit his 2RF short (ala Kikau)

The key is getting him quick pill.

 

[Jolls]

Re the rushing defense, Luai just needs time to sum it up. He’s a master of the little poke in behind, of if they rush him he can hit his 2RF short (ala Kikau)

The key is getting him quick pill.

... or to create time and space by playing straight and digging into the line. We can also come back against the grain against a rushing defence applying inside pressure, something we also do poorly. Some of ADs drop off plays are also so telegraphed they may as well not do them.

The system works and we need to work on the system and also counter theirs.

A rushing defence on two sideways halves makes it difficult for us. If AD played a little straighter and dug into the line as a 7 Luai would probably have the time he needs and the same goes for Luai with AD running outside him in a running 6 role. I'm not ready to can the AD/Luai pairing - but they need to start producing or Madden will push one of them out with his simple game.

 

[EllisFan]

... or to create time and space by playing straight and digging into the line. We can also come back against the grain against a rushing defence applying inside pressure, something we also do poorly. Some of ADs drop off plays are also so telegraphed they may as well not do them.

The system works and we need to work on the system and also counter theirs.

A rushing defence on two sideways halves makes it difficult for us. If AD played a little straighter and dug into the line as a 7 Luai would probably have the time he needs and the same goes for Luai with AD running outside him in a running 6 role. I'm not ready to can the AD/Luai pairing - but they need to start producing or Madden will push one of them out with his simple game.

Another thing that Penrith would do was feign a hit up but have the forward play out the back to Chin, creating extra space. May can ball play so it wouldn’t surprise me if we’re working on that sort of thing this week. The rushing D can still cut it off but there’d be more space to exploit in behind them and on the flanks.

Won’t be surprised if he sticks with AD this week but if it’s still clunky on Thursday I think we need to go to plan B.