Jarome Luai set to sign monster five-year deal with Wests Tigers
Jarome Luai is set to sign a monster five-year deal worth more than $6 million with Wests Tigers.
The Panthers star has told Penrith he will not be at the club beyond next season and will join the joint-venture club from 2025.
Bye bye Penrith: Jarome Luai is on his way to Wests Tigers in a massive deal.Credit: Steven Siewert
The premiers had offered Luai a three-year, $2.55 million deal to remain at the club in 2025 and 2026, but the NSW and Samoan representative instead decided to test his value on the open market.
Luai has played 107 matches for the Panthers, winning the past three straight grand finals.
Under the NRL’s new rules, Luai can only declare his intention to sign with the Tigers, giving Penrith a 10-day period to come up with a bigger offer to try to keep him.
Luai also retains the right to pull out of the deal with the Tigers during that period, creating a fortnight of intrigue about his future, given the big-money offer also on the table from the Bulldogs, worth about $5.5 million over five years.
Jarome Luai is moving to the Tigers.Credit: Penrith Panthers
Shane Richardson was only appointed interim chief executive of the Tigers on Tuesday, but made the pursuit of Luai a priority.
Despite not officially starting in the top job until the new year, Richardson organised to meet with Luai’s management on Thursday where he was assured the club remained a viable option.
Richardson then held a phone hook-up with Luai and his management late Friday.
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“But nothing has been finalised,” Richardson said.
Richardson pulled the deal for Addin Fonua-Blake during the week, but said none of that money was used to sweeten the Luai deal.
Canterbury were viewed as favourites to land Luai’s signature, where he would have reunited with several former Panthers, including new recruit Stephen Crichton and coach Cameron Ciraldo. But the swift reaction to the boardroom clean-out at the Tigers made sure they remained in the race.
Tigers coach Benji Marshall, a one-time favourite of Luai when he was growing up, has also been hands-on in the chase for Luai, and told him why the player and club would be a good fit.
There are high hopes for youngster Lachie Galvin, who is signed for three years, while Adam Doueihi is on track to return by May, with Richardson, who worked with Doueihi at South Sydney, labelling the injured key player “a major part of the Tigers plans”.
Luai remained tight-lipped when he left Penrith training on Saturday, and later took to social media to inform his 240,000 Instagram followers there had been “no pen to paper”, and “I’ll let yous know when a deal is done”.
More to come.
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