After spending $6 million to join the Wests Tigers, Jarome Luai has returned to Penrith and completed his first full
training session in three months to start his last season as a Panther.
Luai was beaming when he reunited with his teammates on the paddock on Thursday, following interim Tigers CEO
Shane Richardson’s declaration that he will be the “face of the club” and drawing comparisons between his debut in
Concord next year and Greg Inglis’ 2011 arrival at South Sydney.
Before Christmas, Luai was noticeably absent from the team. He informed Penrith that he needed some time off
following this masthead revealed in mid-December that he was leaving the three-time premiers.
During his individually organized, NBA-style press conference on Wednesday, the 26-year-old expressed his
displeasure with how he thought the news broke at the time, calling the drama “a misunderstanding”.
After confirming his signing on a five-year contract worth roughly $1.2 million each season beginning in 2025, Luai
participated in a demanding set of running and aerobic drills to welcome the Penrith players back after their
Christmas break.
After sustaining an injury that Panthers physiotherapist Peter Green recently referred to as a “hamburger with the
lot”—requiring repairs to a labral tear as well as his biceps and rotator cuff tendons—Luai has been recuperating from shoulder surgery.
The star five-eighth is not anticipated to start working with the team until much closer to round one, and he is not
guaranteed to play when Penrith travels to St Helens in late February for the World Club Challenge.
Luai made it clear that he wanted to leave his junior team with a historic fourth premiership ring and that he didn’t
want his contract call “to get in the way of that relationship” with coach Ivan Cleary. On Thursday, the paddock saw
movement in that regard.
Richardson was touting Luai’s 2025 signing as a “game changer” across town.
Over the course of a long career in the game, the seasoned administrator has overseen multiple rebuilds; none has
been more significant than the South Sydney rebirth, which produced the foundation club’s first premiership in
forty-three years.
Richardson recognizes similarities between Luai and former Rabbitohs player Roy Asotasi, whose 2007 signing from
Canterbury was viewed as a pivotal moment in Souths’ attempt to entice elite players to Redfern.
However, he compared the Tigers’ acquisition of Luai, who was just released by the Storm due to a salary cap
controversy, to the Rabbitohs’ acquisition of Inglis.
Richardson stated on SEN radio that Roy had a significant role in the announcement of the reconstruction of Souths.
“He joined the team in a comparable circumstance to Jarome’s… But our landing of Greg Inglis is a better
illustration. When we finally got Greg Inglis, we were about to make it.
“For where we were as a club, the statement he made by coming to us instead of Brisbane was huge. We never looked
back after that.
After experiencing a shortage of halves towards the end of the previous season, rookie coach Benji Marshall
persuaded Luai to become the Tigers’ primary playmaker. Now, the joint venture features young players Latu Fainu,
Jayden Sullivan (signed through the end of 2027), and Lachlan Galvin (2026) in addition to free agents Adam
Doueihi and Aidan Sezer.
Richardson denied rumors that a playmaking impasse was developing, stating that the Tigers had to make a major
investment to acquire a player of Luai’s caliber.
“We had to capture him,” Richardson remarked. Every squad is in need of a player with the ability to alter the course
of the match.
“They are extremely rare and hard to find, making them like diamonds when they do occur.” There is no one better
to represent the current generation than Jarome, who aspires to be the club’s and the West’s face.
