A lionheart for the four-peat-chasing Panthers and the Tigers’ prized 2025 recruit, Penrith’s incisive five-eighth Jarome Luai will always be a predator on the paddock. But in a world swirling with online spite, the 27-year-old says he’s done biting back.
“A lot of these kids have phones these days, and they’re exposed to social media and media, and the world’s changed so much to when I was a youngster back in the day,” he said during NRL grand final week. “So the way you carry yourself, the way you do things, goes a long way.”
Luai is the most misunderstood man in rugby league. His competitive personality and determination to defend his teammates has meant he has become the NRL’s chief villain. The Panthers’ dominance has cultivated envy around the league, and the No 6’s tendency to live life on the edge has made him an easy figure to hate.
He once stood over a concussed Selwyn Cobbo in the 2022 Origin series, taunting his prone opponent, then doubled down the following year, telling the winger to “do something about it”. He has been fined for pushing touch judge Chris Sutton. And after being sent off in Origin II last year, he called people targeting him with abuse “idiots” on social media. Some Blues fans thought he was disparaging them.
Luai accepts that he has pushed the limits. “I think back a few years, I was sort of playing the victim and saying, like, I’m not really in control of that,” he says. “People will judge you the way you play the game of footy, but I’ve definitely accepted that, and understanding that you can’t make everyone happy at the end of the day.”
At the Panthers media day ahead of the club’s fifth straight grand final, Luai speaks softly, and is asked by a reporter to elaborate. The father of three says he no longer wants to be “biting back”.
“I’m a dude where if I get pushed around, I want to stand up for myself. I always have been like that, but you can do that in a better way. I’m a role model to a lot of these kids.”
His approach this year has been to turn a blind eye to the noise, and resist responding to those who volunteer their views about him. “The opinions of my teammates, my coaches, my family – they’re the ones that matter most, and they’re the ones that are around me every day,” he says.
That world will turn upside down in coming months. Luai has signed a contract for more than $1m a year to play with cellar-dwellers Wests, starting in 2025. It means Sunday’s match will be his final with the club where he has spent his whole career, and which represents his community. This week, Luai suspects, will not feel quite the same.
“I don’t want it to be much different than what it has before, feeling-wise and emotionally, I just want it to be the same,” he says. “If there is any sort of that energy [because] it’s my last year amongst the group, then I want it to be a positive one.”
For years cynics doubted whether Luai could lead a team, and argued he would not succeed without his halves partner Nathan Cleary. He is open that his motivation to sign for Wests is partly to test himself as a chief playmaker. But with Cleary injured for much of this season, Luai was given elevated responsibilities a year earlier than expected.
“I’ve never really had to play that [playmaker] role here, because we all play our roles the way it should be, and that’s why we’re a successful club, and we respect each other,” he says. “I just want to make sure that I do get a chance to play that role, have a full season under my belt with that and see how far I can take it.”
Although his stint with Penrith still has one more game, Luai can’t help looking back to where it all began. He signed his first contract in under-13s, and he recalls being in the car with his father. “I remember my dad tearing up, we were talking about it and saying, this could be our ticket out. That was what it was for us, growing up in Mount Druitt, we look at footy and sport as a way out for our family.”
The connection to community – much of Luai’s family lives within 10 minutes of the Panthers’ training ground – has made his tenure that much more memorable. “I’m not making memories just for myself. My family’s here along for this ride, and the success we’ve had means just as much to them as it does to me.
“My kids have grown up here. My son gets to experience all of this. He loves the boys, he loves footy, and I’m pretty grateful. They [the Panthers] haven’t given me lifetime memories, they’ve given [them to] my whole family.”
The clash against Melbourne – who defeated the Panthers in Luai’s first grand final in 2020 – provides a fitting send-off. The Storm have beaten the Panthers twice this season, and despite their pedigree the Panthers are slight underdogs. “We’ve got one more job to do,” Luai says. “What better way to do it than come up against the Melbourne Storm.”
