OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

Jolls said:
JL certainly hasn't hit any many home runs with the ball in hand and his discipline is certainly something he needs improve - especially having the C beside his name. This was in his game at Penrith too; but they were better able to cope with the disadvantage. Here, in a leadership role, it is poor - but part of his competitve makeup. He needs to think more about the low percentage plays; but I wouldn't want him to get it completely out of his game.

While he hasn't been setting the world on fire there are some good signs. His (and Tito's) on field enthusiam is starting to permeate the team and I expect what he drives at training is starting to rub off as well.

In the outline game plan for the dogs I wrote how we needed to get his edge coming back against the grain to take advantage of Galvin's arm grabbing defence. Very easy to write - but difficult to do - espacially with Critta defending that edge. If we disregard the forward pass component of that play we can see what he is bringing to the team.

Critta and Luai know earch others games and for the most part they had the measure of each other on Saturday. The read by Critta to take the short kick for Bula was outstanding defence, but it was also the opportunity JL was looking for. This is the difference between JL and an average player in that position. JL identified that Critta had anticipated the kick. I mentioned in that post that deception is all about showing a player what they want to see and then doing something different. He knew Critta would anticipate the kick if he shaped for it a second time and then thew the no looker to Sam F, who crashed through Galvin and over for the try.

That was not off the cuff, Sam F had to know to run back on that line when JL was shaping for a kick to him (or Bula). The execution was off, but the the footy IQ to develop, and execute it was high. It is a pretty isolated incident, but one of several over the last few months.

We are playing a pretty simple game plan at the moment - while I would love to see more players in motion it is clear to me that we are focussed on bedding down the basics. So while it is slow growth it is quality growth. It would be very difficult for a side that has played such low IQ footy for several seasons to step up. We only have to go back to the fist season with Api - where he would take off with no support to see the low we are building from.

Long winded reply I know but I think that while JL hasn't flicked the switch and transformed the team's on field results; he is definitely having a postive effect. This next off season, with the support players now understanding how to play higher IQ footy, and some more punch in the pack and centres, we should be playing footy in September.

I think 2025 is the deposit; he needs to deliver in 2026.
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Geez thats a well written and balanced post...i watched the game again last night and your spot on.

Ive wondered if those penalties hes given away several times for blocking a kick chaser have been intentional...ie: roll the dice, concede a penalty and reset the line for some opponents...because im sure ive seen him do it annd get away with it once or twice

I rememeber bryce gibbs used to give away what i called breather penalties...he knew when we were under The pump and struggling...a 15 or 20 second break was huge
 
innsaneink said:
Geez thats a well written and balanced post...i watched the game again last night and your spot on.

Ive wondered if those penalties hes given away several times for blocking a kick chaser have been intentional...ie: roll the dice, concede a penalty and reset the line for some opponents...because im sure ive seen him do it annd get away with it once or twice

I rememeber bryce gibbs used to give away what i called breather penalties...he knew when we were under The pump and struggling...a 15 or 20 second break was huge
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Not sure I would say intentional but perhaps they are calculated breather penalties - woth taking the risk for the resart 10m out. There are a couple that have been so blatant you really have to wonder. What I would give to sit down and talk footy over a few ales! (in the off season of course).
 
I think that many here expected that signing Luai on a $6 million deal was going to mark a new era in Wests Tigers history starting in 2025. In reality it became a case study in the brutal truth that marquee signings alone don’t fix systems. So let's look at why the club stumbled despite his presence, is it Luai not performing or are there other factors we need to consider.

His line breaks and try assists are way down; is that on Jarome, does it highlight structural flaws in our system or are we simply treading the development path to success.

Whatever your personal take on it, there is no doubt that Galvingate played a part. As a result it is a season split in two. The fallout was clearly toxic; our on-field cohesion collapsed and Luai was left to direct a side that had been built around the incorporation of Galvin's style.

From the outside it looks like Luai has done what he could: run hard, led with heart, and despite not producing results he has never stopped competing. His performance so far highlights the club’s dysfunction overall: the Galvin saga, forward pack struggles, and systemic instability. To me he has been more of a firefighter than the playmaker - having to fit in around Galvin and then try to make it all work when the wheels fell off. I don't hold him to account at the moment; this isn't his failure. It is a reminder that stars need structure, not just the spotlight.

What we need to keep in mind that this is a building year and if you look at it in that respect you can see that our performance dropped off when one of the building blocks deserted. Should we have made Galvin play out this season? That is a two sided coin - if we did we may have made the 8, but would Latu have been developed enough to take the reigns in 2026.

The milk has alread been spilt so there is no use crying about it. Luai has shown what he brings off the paddock and we have seen glimpses of his footy IQ so there are green shoots. The question we need to be asking isn't about Luai's heart and performance in 2025.

The real question is can Benji/Richo get the system right for 2026?
 
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Jolls said:
I think that many here expected that signing Luai on a $6 million deal was going to mark a new era in Wests Tigers history starting in 2025. In reality it became a case study in the brutal truth that marquee signings alone don’t fix systems. So let's look at why the club stumbled despite his presence, is it Luai not performing or are there other factors we need to consider.

His line breaks and try assists are way down; is that on Jarome, does it highlight structural flaws in our system or are we simply treading the development path to success.

Whatever your personal take on it, there is no doubt that Galvingate played a part. As a result it is a season split in two. The fallout was clearly toxic; our on-field cohesion collapsed and Luai was left to direct a side that had been built around the incorporation of Galvin's style.

From the outside it looks like Luai has done what he could: run hard, led with heart, and despite not producing results he has never stopped competing. His performance so far highlights the club’s dysfunction overall: the Galvin saga, forward pack struggles, and systemic instability. To me he has been more of a firefighter than the playmaker - having to fit in around Galvin and then try to make it all work when the wheels fell off. I don't hold him to account at the moment; this isn't his failure. It is a reminder that stars need structure, not just the spotlight.

What we need to keep in mind that this is a building year and if you look at it in that respect you can see that our performance dropped off when one of the building blocks deserted. Should we have made Galvin play out this season? That is a two sided coin - if we did we may have made the 8, but would Latu have been developed enough to take the reigns in 2026.

The milk has alread been spilt so there is no use crying about it. Luai has shown what he brings off the paddock and we have seen glimpses of his footy IQ so there are green shoots. The question we need to be asking isn't about Luai's heart and performance in 2025.

The real question is can Benji/Richo get the system right for 2026?
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100% it's on the players around him to be better. He can tell a forward what line to run, but he can't tell them to do things like stay alive on an offload.
 
Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan said:
100% it's on the players around him to be better. He can tell a forward what line to run, but he can't tell them to do things like stay alive on an offload.
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I disagree there. That’s what video sessions are for. And I don’t know this as a fact but I’m pretty sure Luai wouldn’t be shy in hammering blokes for lazy efforts in those sessions.
 
Great post Jolls. Your last 2 posts have been spot on. I wish more on here could see the positives as you highlighted and then park their negativity outlook elsewhere.
I am finally seeing the Tigers gain some honest respect instead of ridicule from various parties involved in NRL. JL is one of only a minority of players at the club responsible for this shift in people’s perceptions.
 
Toothless Tigers said:
Great post Jolls. Your last 2 posts have been spot on. I wish more on here could see the positives as you highlighted and then park their negativity outlook elsewhere.
I am finally seeing the Tigers gain some honest respect instead of ridicule from various parties involved in NRL. JL is one of only a minority of players at the club responsible for this shift in people’s perceptions.
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I was fortunate to play under some good coaches and also coach a couple of Luai like players (not to anywhere near the same standard mind you). The difficult thing I found with these types of players is for the runners to get their cues right. They grow being told to run a spaces not faces and then you tell them to throw that out and run this line, or run at this player. Once they understand that the ballplayer will create the space for them then its a matter of them learning the different ways they do that and picking "the tell" to time the run. It is a bit like playing outside a a chook with its head cut off.

You can only really learn the tells in a game situation which is why combinations take time to develop. Sam F has looked a bit quiet, but I expect that is him learning how to read Luai. Latu on the other side is less erratic so combinations on that edge are easier. Another four weeks of game time reps followed by an offseason working it up - now that Sam F understands how he plays - and we should see the improvement many thought would come naturally.

He doesn't get a free pass though - we have seen that they can do it - now they need consistency. Sam F and Luia need to become a potent left edge that other teams focus on allowing Latu to develop his magic on the other side of the paddock.
 
Credit where credit is due since Doueihi has stepped into 7 he's looked a lot better.

He's also willing to actually take the line on which is making a huge difference. He still does a little bit too much of the random jinking and cutting inside which disjoints our attack, but when he's direct he gets close to breaking the line and his first step is able to get him on the outside and create space for May.

Benji just needs to tell him to simplify things a little bit more and he'll be right.

I don't think he'll ever be worth the money we've paid for him, at least as a player on the field, but he's at least starting to look like a solid first grader again after a very disappointing start.
 
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