OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295
- Thread starter Frecal
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pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
I think potentially the loss of a young half or two by keeping Luai for 27 would have resulted in him departing at the end of year.
StarswithStripes
Well-known member
Glad the club had the balls to make the call. We’ve been played for fools in the past. Not this time.
Canberratiger
Well-known member
Imagine the BS from NRL360 if he was here and was flying to PNG a few times during the season...
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
Not week to week obviously, but they’ll still be there before and after Origin.
From Badel/s article - Benji was happy with Luai's tpa's .FIFO ing his new club next year .Did Meilekamp put his foot down and stamp his authority on the hypocrisy of it /I bloody hope so.
Then its stated that Benji asked the club hierarchy to be made aware of any TPA's made to the playing group ????. Is he paranoid that the unsigned Finau boys might be jumping ship , having a dig at management to gather more/larger tpa's for the playing group ???
Then its stated that Benji asked the club hierarchy to be made aware of any TPA's made to the playing group ????. Is he paranoid that the unsigned Finau boys might be jumping ship , having a dig at management to gather more/larger tpa's for the playing group ???
upthetigers
Well-known member
It might be understandable if they were in a premiership window but they're not
parra will just milk it for what he brings - just as we did
The Chad
Well-known member
Keating looks more like Emperor Palpatine by the day.
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
Boy o boy, what a story !How $3 million PNG third party deal triggered Jarome Luai’s early exit from Tigers
The Tigers rose eyebrows when they told Jarome Luai he was free to leave in 2026, despite having a year left on his deal. Behind the departure - a secret PNG multimillion dollar agreement.
Peter Badel
@badel_cmail
4 min read
July 16, 2026 - 2:03PM
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...8106cdd1d3756bf60dea86b3483c88ab?amp#comments
Video-link
Jarome Luai breaks his silence, the Luai-Pezet comparison Eels fans need to forget, Lomax to Chiefs plus a huge Round 20 NRL preview.
It is the $3 million third-party deal with Papua New Guinea that convinced Wests Tigers to jettison Jarome Luai.
Luai’s impending third-party commitments to his future NRL employer, PNG, and the multimillion-dollar ramifications for the Tigers, was a critical factor in the joint-venture club’s decision to part ways with the playmaking superstar.
Luai will embark on a one-year cameo with the Eels next season before taking up a tax-free, $3.6 million, three-year deal to spearhead the Chiefs in their foundation year in the NRL in 2028.
But while Luai’s debut with the Chiefs is still 18 months away, it is a mega third-party deal, brokered with a PNG corporation, that sealed his fate at the Tigers.
The lucrative third-party agreement (TPA), said to be worth north of $3 million, tax-free, over a four-year period, will be activated from next season, 12 months before PNG’s entry, and that’s what rang alarm bells for Wests Tigers chiefs.
Luai is set to join the Chiefs in 2028.
This masthead can reveal at least one PNG-related third-party deal, negotiated by his management, has already been registered for Luai with the NRL as required under salary-cap rules.
And because PNG won’t enter the league until 2028, Luai’s TPA had to be lodged via his existing club, the Wests Tigers, which went down like a lead balloon at Concord.
Luai’s PNG third-party sponsorship was approved by Tigers coach Benji Marshall, who had asked club hierarchy to be made aware of any TPA deals for his playing group.
Aside from the absurdity of the Tigers having to lodge a TPA deal with links to a rival team from a foreign country, the other sticking point surrounded the impact of the agreement, and how Luai stood to service it while still playing for the Tigers.
Luai’s third-party commitments to the Papua New Guinea conglomerate begin next season.
It means the newly-signed Parramatta star will be required to undertake trips to Port Moresby in 2027 to actively service the deal with his Pacific sponsors while on the Eels’ payroll.
That was a scenario that angered Wests Tigers bosses, especially when the club faces outlaying millions to upgrade their next wave of young guns headlined by Samuela Fainu.
The Tigers had hoped Luai would be their marquee star for years to come.
So the Tigers made the decision to expedite Luai’s release, believing his impending commitment to the Chiefs - not only on the field but off it - could destabilise their push for finals and premiership credibility next season under Marshall.
Sources close to negotiations say at least one of Luai’s third-party deals in PNG could be valued at $1 million next season.
Over the duration of his Chiefs contract, which expires in 2030, Luai stands to make at least $3 million from TPAs, and potentially more if his profile and gravitas swells in coming years as PNG’s marquee recruit in a nation besotted with rugby league.
Such was the angst over Luai’s third-party interest, Tigers CEO Shaun Mielekamp made internal inquiries on how best to handle the matter.
Contacted on Wednesday, Mielekamp declined to discuss Luai’s third-party situation, saying he wished the playmaker well at the Eels.
The Tigers have publicly supported Luai’s move to the NRL’s newest franchise. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
“I don’t want to comment on that, that’s noise we don’t need,” he said.
“Jarome has been absolutely professional.
“He has brought plenty to this club.
“We will be forever grateful and we have a job to do now to finish this season on a high.
“I’m looking forward to Jarome leading us around for that.”
A well-placed source said the demands Luai would face in servicing his PNG third-party deals was the final straw for the Tigers.
“The Tigers are having to deal with third parties Jarome has with PNG because the Chiefs aren’t in the comp yet,” the insider said.
“Wests Tigers have been hit with a whole range of third parties for Jarome that they have to lodge, yet the Tigers get no benefit from it.
“More importantly, Jarome Luai has to service them next year while playing for the Wests Tigers, or now the Eels.
“It’s a major part of the reason why the Tigers decided to move on.
“They may as well take the money and upgrade and extend young players they’ve got.”
Luai will join Moses at the Eels in 2027 before his PNG move. Picture: NRL Imagery
Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters, speaking on Wednesday on his Inside Ball podcast, expressed dismay at the series of get-out clauses in Luai’s five-year Tigers contract that allowed him to negotiate mid-season with PNG.
“It’s horrible,” Walters said of the Luai saga.
“It’s not normal what happened, it’s not normal.
“Nobody has won really.
“The thing that puzzles me is why that clause in Jarome’s contract was at the end of April where he had to make a decision to trigger the clause to continue to play for the Tigers.
“Because of that clause and the timing, he (was permitted) to fly to PNG to have a look at the Chiefs and their facilities and what it’s actually like up there
“That was a huge distraction for the club (Wests Tigers).
“I have got no problem with Jarome Luai signing with the Chiefs, but it’s just the timing of it all.”
If it’s legit TPA doesn’t matter when it starts. He will be playing for a one club country , he will be a star outright in that country (already a star in the country just by signing with the club.), opportunities for legit TPAs are huge, all sorts of companies would approach as he is big news. All the Sydney clubs TPAs would be mostly bullshit because they are set up by club or linked to the club they play .. I always go back to that example with the Penrith / sharks swap with Moylan and Maloney.
For Luai , if his current ones now are legit , there is no reason why he can’t keep them when he starts in PNG in 28 unless they are direct competitors to PNG club sponsors or others he finds in PNG
bythebeardofzeus
Well-known member
Can’t believe the Sydney Kings knocked him back.
In all seriousness, all the best to you Romey. Love the competitiveness you’ve brought to our club. Had we not have been decimated by injuries, who knows where we’d be now.
One last ask, lift the boys and back yourselves for the rest of the year. Nothing to lose now.
🐯💪
In all seriousness, all the best to you Romey. Love the competitiveness you’ve brought to our club. Had we not have been decimated by injuries, who knows where we’d be now.
One last ask, lift the boys and back yourselves for the rest of the year. Nothing to lose now.
🐯💪
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
I just watched Kenty on Instagram who said Chammas explained that salary and TPD are both tax free IN PNG, but if money transferred back to Australia, becomes taxable.
I’m wondering how much better off Luai will be for all this kerfuffle.
I’m wondering how much better off Luai will be for all this kerfuffle.
Odessa
Well-known member
If it's taxed bringing into the country that would be strange
Maybe if it's deposit straight into a AUS bank account
I saw this, it’s wrong. Don’t take tax advice from rugby league journos. I thought Kenty would be better than this.
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
I’m not sure, how can Albo arrange tax free status for a small group of footballers? That would surely open up à can of worms with the ATO ?
The exemption was announced as part of the budget. Kenty was probably told that if the players receive income from investments in Australia then they would still be taxed which is true. I could be wrong but I believe the only exemption will be the salary paid by the Chiefs.
See how everyone feels when Luai & Moses tear us a new one on Easter Monday next year and we’re running with halves who can’t crack FG at the moment.
Personally think Benji would be seriously wondering if this job is just a bridge too far.
bigsiro
Well-known member
Just saw the Luai interview.
Whether or not he saw his release as a possibility, it happened. As a star player, he would have been reeling.
But in that presser he could not have handled himself and the situation any better, with any more candour or class. Pro.
Whether or not he saw his release as a possibility, it happened. As a star player, he would have been reeling.
But in that presser he could not have handled himself and the situation any better, with any more candour or class. Pro.
