OFFICIAL Jarome Luai - #295

[Oscar Martinez]

Dumbarse University is in session on this thread.

Some of you blokes don't deserve a winning team.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

If you can only be judged on your last game then every team would change significantly each week. The notion you can only be judged on your last game doesn't make any sense at all.

If you're judged on the last game before the Broncos, Madden would have remained the half.
How long do you persist with a losing team if there are better alternatives?
The Luai 'n Doueihi halves combo has all off season and a few comp games to get it right.
It just doesn't work! Time to face reality even if some egos get a jolt.

 

[Chunk]

Luai should start at six again, he needs some more opportunities, his on field performances have certainly been under par for the last 18 months but there's no doubt he's got a very good game in him and he's good for the team, lets hope we see some of it.

This year, the Souths and Broncos games were his for the taking and he failed, the Cowboys game, was diiferent, we were never going to lose that.

And AD deserves a few more cracks at half before moving to the centres.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Luai doesn't know how to run anything and he never will. Koroisau should be our captain with Madden steering the ship at 7.

I believe you are right.
Luai is not a manager-director whatso ever.
Good off field etc but not a director on field.

 

[magpies forever]

Disappointing loss. Jarome's stats are pretty poor, I wonder if his MCL is still an issue.

I believe Jock would have done a better job as he knows the Broncos system. He also has a much better kicking game and a more straightforward through the middle structure.

Coaching mistake by Benji in my opinion.

We have previously said 'don't change a winning team'. What does Benji do? Shifts Madden to bench and puts Luai into main squad despite being out 4 weeks. Bad mistake, not Luai's fault, he made the offer.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

if Luai had played off the bench and we had got beat, the place would have had a complete meltdown and the media would have been all over benji and the team

Maybe that was the pressure Benji faced and forced his decision to drop Madden?
So now it has been proven for all to see that Luai is not a game manager and Doueihi is a runner 1st and thinker 2nd.
Failed experiment because Madden has excelled beyond all expectations!

 

[Chunk]

Disappointing loss. Jarome's stats are pretty poor, I wonder if his MCL is still an issue.

I believe Jock would have done a better job as he knows the Broncos system. He also has a much better kicking game and a more straightforward through the middle structure.

Coaching mistake by Benji in my opinion.

Can you imagine starting JL from the bench, there would be an uproar

 

[diedpretty]

still don’t think Luai was ready, you can’t tell me with his knee so heavily strapped up that he was 100%. Weird to play him if he wasn’t fully fit seeing as we were humming along nicely

Totally agree. There was no need to rush him back. Benji needed to make the hard call and tell Luai he wanted him 100% fit before picking him. It's a long season and when we have the opportunity to get players fully fit before a return we should take it.

 

[Flippedy]

Not our best player .....just our most expensive player

Yes, Doueihi has been by far our best player and yet everybody wants to move him!

 

[Telltails]

D wins matches. Two tries when we were in control was the turning point. Broncos kept in the game with determined committed D
Penalty off our error and iced with a FG.
Move on.

 

[Flippedy]

Can you imagine starting JL from the bench, there would be an uproar

Why? I don’t think it should be an issue. Team first and all and the bench is still the team.

 

[jrtiger]

Jarome wasn't good enough on Saturday night, pure and simple. execution was way off and the dropped ball when we had them on the ropes wasn't befitting of a bloke that's got four rings in his jewellery box.

whether you put it down to cobwebs post-injury, his combination with AD or something else entirely, it's time to deliver. last time out at the 8th he delivered a 10/10 performance. I'll back him to do it again.

 

[magpies forever]

Can you imagine starting JL from the bench, there would be an uproar

Nope. I strongly doubt that.

 

[Lukic]

Where does this stuff about him being a great player come from? It's just not true.

He had success playing for a Penrith 2 and 3 wide of the ruck with Yeo and Cleary organising everything in the middle. He had Crichton and To'o outside of him and Kikau on his shoulder. He's benefitted from having the easiest role in footy imaginable. Few good games for Samoa sure, total dud in origin.

He was signed to be our organising 7. Total failure of a move. He wore the 7 to start last year and Galvin still did everything as a 19 year old. Now we've got Doueihi in the 7 jersey, who's played just about every position on the field in an injury riddled career.

So we've paid premium halfback money to a guy who's proven he's not a halfback, and hasn't proven he's a 5/8th able to consistently create points when not surrounded by superstars.

He's an average 5/8th. Nothing remarkable really. He should be our 6 with Madden in 7. But his contract will hold our team back from an on field perspective, though he has brought a number of benefits to the club from an off-field and cultural perspective.

If we were paying him 700k a year (which is what Penrith offered him), it would be totally fine. We're paying him almost double what he's worth. It's Brooks 2.0, just Luai is a bit better than Brooks and we've got a substantially better squad around Luai now than we had the last few years of the Brooks disaster.

 

[TigerNeddyK]

You shouldn't mess with a winning formula. Just a coincidence our attack was clunky. Maybe Luai said he's okay to play reserve grade or come off the bench for a reason. Maybe he knows the team is better with Madden. The only problem is that price tag, such a burden. He does have a get out clause though. Maybe the Dragons are desperate.

Did you join the forum just to troll Luai? Every post is the same ? Does he owe you money or did he steal your missus? 🤔

 

[tig_prmz]

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.

 

[TheEnz]

The sooner Latu steps up the better, i believe he is our long term 7 and the rest are just warming the seat as he builds up his strength and conditioning. The short stints I have seen of him so far he has looked good straightening up the attack and his passing game is sublime....needs to work on protecting himself a bit more in defense though.

 

[Betterdays22]

All the low IQ's here saying without Luai we can't win the big games or he is a must have. All that matters is if you win footy games, who cares if people like having him around the club, your not here to be liked your here to win footy games period. People d**K ride Luai here like no tomorrow.... Madden is our true 7 that won us games off the back of his decision making and kicking game, Luai is more popular then Madden but who cares when all that matters is winning games and that's where Jock gets it right where Luai fails to do so. Luai since his arrival has been average at best. We etheir make the 8 with Jock being our number 7 all year or risk having another disappointing season, Luai isn't our saviour and it's time for people to wake up.

Just because people have a different opinion to you does not mean they are "low IQs".

Luai has done just about everything in the game. He is quality. Its up to Benji to fit that quality in the current system to get the best out of him. I do seem to remember Luai having his best game in Tigers colours about a month at a packed LO, short memories hey?

This is not even mentioning the fact Madden and Luai literally play different positions, its comparing apples and oranges.

 

[Blooey]

I think the lads know Madden will be coming into the mix. The same reason he came on last night.

7-Madden
6-Luai
5-Turuva
4-Douhei
3-Herbert
2-May
1-Bula

Ugly truth is Makasini cost us the game. 4 momentum changing errors.

- The dropped pass from Bula
- The dropped kick with no one around him
- Not dropping back for Reynolds to kick to Mariner
- Not making the decision to throw the ball back inside and getting tackled out by Staggs (gun player by the way).

Luai is being used as the scapegoat but surely everyone agrees on the above cold hard facts.

Tito.

Maka lost the game, but we shouldn't have been in a position to lose that game. Honestly we should have won by 20+, and I believe we would have if Jock was picked over either Luai or Adam.

 

[Betterdays22]

Mate we were about 3 minutes from losing to Parra. Don't forget that. By the grace of God we won that game.

Good example of winning changing everything. Lose that game against a heavily depleted Parra side the Madden narrative changes to - great win against the warriors, couldn't get it done against a poor parra side and comfortable win against a depleted knights side.

The games Luai has played the results have been - a MOM performance against the Cowboys, a close and frustrating loss against the bunnies in which he came off injured and a disappointing 1 point loss to the Broncs. Scrape a win against either the bunnies or brons and the narrative changes again.

He has been disappointing at points, but the rhetoric directed at Luai has been excessive here.