OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

rugbygoated said:
I think he's stopped being a 'lair' on the field this year. He's got the odd discipline issues with giving away 6 agains and some dumb decisions particularly the middle of the year but he's dropped the grubby acts he used to get away with at penrith. I think he is much better when talking in front of a mic now than he was before
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The only lair factor I was referring to was the haircut made him look like one, a first impression thing, not that it was his personalty far from it.
 
tig_prmz said:
The word "culture" has too many connotations to it.

To me, Luai instills professionalism. When to train, when to let go, when to get at 110%. Off field, you get your diet, lifestyle changes, constant stretching, constantly doing stability exercises, hwo to zone out or zone in. All these things, it's very difficult to learn at WT because we don't have elite S&C staff, sports psychs, experienced coaches etc so you need to rely on your playing leadership group.

Is Luai actually doing it? I don't know. But you look at guys like Terrell May, Turuva and even Douehi. They had their best year this year. It's not because of Luai- but with him there is a "cultural shift".
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In a post-match interiew whenn Doueihi was playing in the centres - with Luai inside & Turuva outside him - he mentioned how their communication and effort in defence had driven his individual defensive improvements...

It's obvious to anyone with a clue that Turuva's energy and footy IQ helps to makes his centre better!
 
Needaname said:
IMO Luai really looked a world class conductor leading that Samoa side.
I really hope we double down on his and Benji’s thoughts of making him the main guy. With the right prep and skill training (mostly kick timing and placement) Luai could be a really influential halfback in our team. I don’t support putting the pressure on Latu to be the 7. Douiehi maybe but that’s a stop gap. Has to be Luai main man and the rest as the supporting cast!
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Luai played well at 7 for Samoa last year as well
 
Tucker said:
I do see positives in his game, and it’s disappointing that we haven’t seen them this year. My strong suspicion is that he’s missing Cleary’s controlling influence and finding the responsibility a bit overwhelming right now...but saying that usually invites a pile-on, so I tend to keep that opinion to myself.

I haven’t given up on him, though I’ll be honest, I’ve never really liked his style. To me he’s always been a bit of a showpony and a serial agitating smartarse....not my kind of player. That said, he’s played in a lot of big games now: a World Cup final series, 5 NRL grand finals, and five finals campaigns. Not many halves in the comp can boast that résumé. Surely he’s learned something from those experiences and it’s time we started seeing it.

I don’t really buy into all the talk about “creating cultures.” The family-club stuff is nice enough, but I’d rather win footy games with a pack of ruthless competitors than a group who just talk about how close they are. What frustrates me most is that he refused to delete his contract clauses...real leadership would have been doing that when the Galvin situation blew up. We need a hard-nosed leader, and so far he hasn’t supplied that.

Hopefully he can have some honest conversations over the break and come back in 2026 refreshed, focused, and ready to rip in. There’s still a good player there, we just need to see the mature version step up.
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Well said, though there is a bit to unpack here.

One thing I like about Luai is that he goes quiet. GI did this too. Don't underrate this, during Origin Luai did NOT go quiet, got involved in everything and that hurt NSW. Several QLD games (I go for NSW) GI would do next to nothing, then 2 intercepts and two tries later the game is locked up. Storm do this too, the players know to give their juniors some space to play.

Yes Luai needs to be more vocal and controlling, for our current team. But once we get players moving as they should, defending as they should... Luai has a chance to go quiet.... And wait. Players get targetted, players get marked. Luai can read people and when things are working he can pounce.


That said: that's not the kind of player we need at the moment. We really need the DCE, maybe Adam Reynolds. A halfback that can organise the team, score themselves and do it all. Luai isn't that, he might never be that. Yet I am confident that he could be like Munster + hugues... A good partnership but can't carry a team.
 
Snidest 0 said:
In a post-match interiew whenn Doueihi was playing in the centres - with Luai inside & Turuva outside him - he mentioned how their communication and effort in defence had driven his individual defensive improvements...

It's obvious to anyone with a clue that Turuva's energy and footy IQ helps to makes his centre better!
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When did Doueihi ever play between Turuva and Luai?
 
gregjm87 said:
Like all the games where Doueihi played left centre whilst Turuva was on the right wing?
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Like all the games Starford missed.... & when the backline was reshuffled...

Doueihi praised Turuva and Luai for helping his defensive reads - which is a credit to the bloke....

You're a bit of a tosser aren't you Greg?
 
Snidest 0 said:
Like all the games Starford missed.... & when the backline was reshuffled...

Doueihi praised Turuva and Luai for helping his defensive reads - which is a credit to the bloke....

You're a bit of a tosser aren't you Greg?
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I Guess I am. But at least I don't go making up obvious BS and double down on it.
Still waiting for which game he played between Turuva and Luai? because it definitely wasn't any of the 4 games Toa missed. We can go through them one by one for you if need be.
 
gregjm87 said:
I Guess I am. But at least I don't go making up obvious BS and double down on it.
Still waiting for which game he played between Turuva and Luai? because it definitely wasn't any of the 4 games Toa missed. We can go through them one by one for you if need be.
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Hint - he got man of the match and didn't start there!
 
Halbrowne61 said:
But imo 6 is his best position for us.
I think (hope) Benji may start next season with AD at 7 and JL at 6 and young Fainu at 14 but that remains to be seen.
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I think we are overlooking the elephant in the room. Who is our 13 and who is the next man up?

AD can't be in the picture as our long term 7 so should be well into the process of bulking up to take on a ball playing 13's job. If he isn't we have a pretty big hole in our starting 13 with a backup plan that is uninspiring (Twal).
 
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