Wests Tigers co-captain Jarome Luai could leave the club early, with the joint-venture understood to have given him permission to do so at the end of the 2026 NRL season.
Luai’s time at the Tigers – originally set to be for a long-term project – has unravelled rapidly this year.
Luai had player options in his deal at the Tigers from the start of 2027, and while he took the first one, he has already signed a two-year deal with the PNG Chiefs, becoming that club’s first signing as they prepare to enter the NRL in 2028.
The former Panthers premiership-winner was set to play one more year at Concord, but News Corp are reporting Tigers authorities made the call last week to approach Luai’s management and tell him he is free to go.
Luai can choose to stay at the Tigers if he wants, but there is now no roadblock for him finding a one-year deal elsewhere in the competition.
It brings about the possibility that the still cashed-up Perth Bears could make a play to have him become part of their inaugural side for 2027, while it’s unclear which other teams may have the cash resources left to attack Luai’s services on a one-year play.
The Tigers move to let Luai chase an even earlier exit than the one already agreed to at the end of 2027 may strike as surprising on the surface, but Benji Marshall’s side have been on a roller-coaster since Luai announced his move to PNG.
The club have now lost seven of their last nine, capped off by an embarrassing slip up at Kogarah against the St George Illawarra Dragons last weekend, with Luai’s form, or lack thereof, a consistent talking point, although Luai didn’t play in that game.
The former Panther has struggled throughout the stretch, and given he is soaking up so much salary cap, the Tigers are understood to be keen to move him on.
A representative player at his best, Luai’s money could then be used to absorb the blow the club have already had in re-signing the May brothers, Jahream Bula, Heamasi Makasini, Sunia Turuva and Adam Doueihi, the arrival of Jake Averillo, and pave the way for an easy extension of star forward Samuela Fainu, who could command more than $750,000 on his next deal.
Luai’s potential early exit would be joined by that of Mavrik Geyer, Kit Laulilii and Luke Laulilii to the Perth Bears, and Starford To’a to the Manly Sea Eagles who are all already confirmed departures at the end of this year.
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