@mac_tiger A clean break all out in the open business as usual for 1.5 seasons he has done the right thing , media stopped in there tracks nothing to see here other than an ageing player looking after his family nothing to do with the club . It’s up to the club now to resign the players that they want moving forward having a temp CEO doesn’t help , serious recruitment talks will need to get underway with HBG not to confident about that scenario happening.
@enumerator This could well be what HBG won’t easy way to send the club back to the cellar where they won’t them !
Imperative that we keep Bula now.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
I don’t think that just because Luai leaves, the culture leaves with him. He’s played a big part in helping Benji lift standards and improve the culture - and he’ll continue to do that for another season and a half because that’s how he rolls. I’m grateful to him for that as well as what he brings on the field.
Good culture is hard to build but if enough sensible custodians continue to nurture it, it becomes enduring. I think we have enough of those people now.
Imperative that we keep Bula now.
this is what I’m worried about. We can approximate Luai because we are building a culture and we have some talent in the halves coming through. We don’t have the quality of Bula or the May brothers coming through and we need to lock that talent up
I think it’s PNG govt. I wonder if that means PNG Chiefs players need to be paid in Kina and whether their contracts have a top up clause if the exchange rate works against them.
I know we don't do much cross pod discussions here, well I don't out of respect for Joel. But a great discussion on WTTV this evening which summed up.a lot of my anxieties. I don't begrudge Jerome's decision. I'm disappointed, deeply, as I've seen what he's done for this club and he's one of my favourite players. I'm worried this could derail our season, I'm confident it won't, but I'm more worried others will leave with him and then that will detail our future and the culture that has been developed.
I feel the same way. We all know Jerome will give his all in training and game day but when they are having breakfast together you can’t tell me he won’t be white anting the club. How Benji handles a recruitment officer in our four walls as captain will be his biggest challenge yet. I don’t know if he can give Benji any guarantees that he won’t cause any issues within the Team First belief!
Well, that’s that.
https://www.weststigers.com.au/news/2026/04/29/jarome-luai-confirms-future-at-wests-tigers/
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
Good outcome for WT. It’s over quickly, we have certainty, didn’t pay a cent extra, we retain his good character/standards for balance of this year and next, and already have some solid contingencies in place.
I have to agree Mac.
But.. I believe the Luai signing has already on the way to achieving what was intended. He has been a significant player both on/off field in the belief and confidence of this club that was just about shot a few years ago.
I really hope the boys can continue on the path we are on this year and next.
Just hope the club can use this as fuel to re-sign some of our rising stars. Extend Jock/Latu/Javon. Even if Latu ends up as a lock utility type of player.
Congrats to Luai and his family and a good outcome for both parties.
@tigerlily sorry I'm struggling to see how this is a good outcome for the Tigers. We will be losing a rep level player still at the peak of his career when it took us literally years to get a signing of that quality over the line. We have young players coming through the junior system/NSW cup but how many times have we had seen that before and they've fizzled out before they got to first grade, nothing is guaranteed.
We also now have a player who is the face of an expansion NRL club paying silly money in the ear of our first grade squad for the next 18 months and there's jack we can do about it. Are we naive enough to think Luai won't be in the ear of all our players out of contract over the next couple of years especially the likes of the Fainu brothers and the May brothers.
This has the potential to rip the guts out of our squad right when we are finally showing signs of moving in the right direction.
My guess is that the panthers players are probably more vulnerable just because they have mostly been paid a little less than their market value over time (except Cleary) and png will be happy to pay top dollar for spine players and at least one forward leader.
to be honest if I was api I would go to png and play for a couple of years.
Wish him all the best. It's a life changing experience for him, and he's had a huge effect on our club already. I hope that effect continues until the end of next year.
I think it could end up a good outcome for all parties, as long as we use the extra $$ to lock up the Mays, Fainus and Bula (and so forth) for the long term.
Club handled the media very well today. Having Luai and Benji front the media together was a strong message.