Jarome Luai has declared he won’t walk out on the Wests Tigers, giving the strongest indication yet he will see out his five-year contract with the NRL club.
Signed until the end of 2029, Luai has a clause in his deal that allows him to leave the Tigers at the end of next season if he wishes.
The half has until the end of next April to activate the final three years of the deal, but is effectively a free agent from this November when he can be approached by rival clubs.
The Tigers have shown signs of improvement in four-time premiership winner Luai’s first year at the club, but are out of finals contention headed into the last six weeks.
Coach Benji Marshall remains under scrutiny, while the joint-venture will be playing against a junior they had planned to build their future around, Lachlan Galvin, this weekend.
But there have been positives, with the Tigers claiming their most wins in four seasons and captain Apisai Koroisau extending his deal until 2028 last week.
Quizzed on whether Koroisau’s re-signing could be a big reason why he stays, Luai responded: “I’m staying. don’t worry.”
Asked for how long, Luai quipped: “For life”
And questioned further on whether the clause in his contract had been removed, Luai was definitive in saying he wanted to remain a Tiger.
“It’s not gone, but when things get hard, people are expecting you to change,” Luai said.
“I’m not that type of guy. I’m here for the long run and I’m here to change this club around.”
Luai’s declaration came as the Tigers co-captain insisted he had no interest in the storyline surrounding the joint-venture taking on Galvin at Canterbury this week.
Luai said he had not spoken to Galvin since the young half left Concord last month, with his focus only on current teammates.
But he did expect Galvin to be booed by Tigers fans at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“I’ve been on the receiving end many times,” Luai said.
“For me it’s fun. You know, that’s the game of rugby league. It’s a fan-driven game, you know, so you’ve got to expect that. Good luck to Lachy.”
Galvin had his best game in Bulldogs colours in Sunday’s 42-4 win over Manly, with he and fellow half Matt Burton running at will as Canterbury’s attack clicked into gear.
Luai said his side had nothing special planned for Galvin, with Burton posing a serious threat and the Tigers needing to limit the Bulldogs halves time with the ball.
“That’s a talking point for us every week,” Luai said.
“But in particular, Burto, their left edge, they’ve been scoring a lot of points. I think it was one of Burto’s best games that he played on the weekend.
“He’s got that big left foot. He’s a big body. He’s a runner. They’re looking pretty dangerous in attack, so we need to be on defensively.”
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