NRL 2024: How Benji Marshall and Wests Tigers won the race for Jarome Luai signature
It began with a secret meeting in Benji Marshall’s basement and ended with Jarome Luai’s signature at the Tigers, but it wasn’t an easy fight amid interest from another Sydney club. Here’s how the Tigers won the Luai pursuit.
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The Wests Tigers’ pursuit of Jarome Luai began in earnest in the basement of Benji Marshall’s Hunters Hill home over a smorgasbord of sushi.
Last November, as Luai weighed up his future, he and manager Warwick Wright made their way to Marshall’s house for a clandestine meeting that also involved then-Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe.
Marshall and Pascoe were so desperate to keep the discussions quiet, they left the club’s Centre of Excellence at Concord in separate cars – at different times – to throw people off the scent.
Marshall had already been courting Luai privately, having shared a relationship with the Penrith five-eighth dating back to when they roomed together as part of the Maori All Stars side in 2021.
Along with Pascoe, Marshall had largely kept the Tigers’ board of directors in the dark about the movements as they did their best to stop their chase of Luai filtering into the public domain.
Marshall, having stepped into the head coaching job after the departure of Tim Sheens, was clear that Luai was the sort of character that he needed to add to a squad that had become accustomed to losing.
Luai was a three-time premiership winner with an infectious personality. A pied piper of sorts at the Panthers. Others at the Tigers were not as convinced on Luai, given the significant outlay they had already made in the halves for the likes of Latu Fainu, Jayden Sullivan and an emerging Lachie Galvin.
Marshall, though, was steadfast in his desire to court Luai, and Pascoe backed his new coach. During a two-hour meeting in the basement of Marshall’s home, Luai gave as good as he got. He challenged the Tigers and Marshall – who ordered sushi for the group – challenged him back.
Luai made it clear that he wanted to be the man.
He wanted to wear the No.7 and take ownership of a team, which he wasn’t able to do at Penrith thanks to the presence of Nathan Cleary.
He understandably had reservations about the Tigers’ past and their history of underperforming. He also saw the chance to step out of the shadows and create a legacy of his own.
Marshall offered Luai the chance to have more control. At Penrith, Luai spent most of his time on one side of the field. Marshall told Luai – who will take on the Tigers for the first time since signing for them on Saturday – he wants him to play either side of the ruck, getting his hands on the ball where and when he wanted it.
The meeting ended with a question from Pascoe: “So are you ready to make a deal?”
Luai, with his cap turned backwards, stopped in his tracks.
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” Luai replied.
The Tigers were off and running.
THE BULLDOGS
The Tigers didn’t have it all their own way. In the background, the Bulldogs were also courting Luai and they had a significant figure in their corner.
Luai had a close relationship with Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo stretching back to their time together with the Penrith under-20s side.
Ciraldo was coach of the side that won the under-20s and Luai was one of his star players.
The 27-year-old’s relationship with Ciraldo meant that Luai had an acute understanding of what life would be like under the Canterbury coach.
Luai was Ciraldo’s halfback in the National Youth Competition and their individual careers had flourished ever since. Ciraldo went on to help Penrith win premierships working alongside Ivan Cleary. Luai was a star of those sides.
Ciraldo’s reputation had blossomed and it was no surprise when rival clubs came calling. He took his time to make the jump to become a head coach and when he ended at up the Bulldogs, he took over a side in transition.
Luai arrived on his radar as the Panthers pivot weighed up his future. Ciraldo had made it clear on his departure from Penrith that he would not actively pursue players from his former club, such was his deep respect for the Panthers and what they had done for his career.
Once Luai made the decision to leave Penrith, the Bulldogs jumped into action.
In November, Ciraldo and Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould met Luai to discuss his plans.
They left that meeting believing they were in the fight and made the decision to leave Luai alone to make his call. As the days ticked by, the Bulldogs patiently waited but the lack of communication from Luai’s camp had them on edge.
They took it as an ominous sign. The ‘Dogs were also watching what was happening at the Wests Tigers as that club stepped up their pursuit of Ciraldo.
Bulldogs hierarchy knew that as soon as Shane Richardson stepped into the role of acting Wests Tigers chief executive in mid-December, their chances of landing Luai were doomed.
Richardson had chased Luai for a decade. He made his first attempt to sign him when he was the chief executive at South Sydney and Luai was a teenager at Penrith.
Coincidentally, it was Gould – then at Penrith – who convinced Luai to spurn interest from Richardson and the Rabbitohs.
Richardson wasn’t going to take no for an answer this time. He was ready to weigh in with an offer that was too good to refuse.
RICHO SWOOPS
Richardson was announced as the Tigers interim chief executive on December 13 and while he wasn’t due to officially start until January 1, he knew he couldn’t afford to sit on his hands.
One of his first decisions, in consultation with Marshall, was to scrap the club’s chase of Addin Fonua-Blake and put the pursuit of Justin Olam on hold as he diverted all his attention to Luai.
The pair made the decision to throw all their energy and more of their cash, at Luai. As well as changing the tack of player negotiations, Richardson also rubber-stamped an upgraded offer to Luai.
The deal, worth $6 million over five years, would make Luai one of the highest paid players in the game. It would also send a message that Luai was the main man. The face of the club.
“We had offers out there on several people but the only one I thought we really needed was Luai,” Richardson said.
“We pulled all the offers out from everywhere and we just focused on Luai.
“Benji and I sat down and talked about what we were doing and both of its thought Luai was the one we had to get.
“There was no deal done or close to a deal being done. We were up against the Dogs. Then we just had to talk to him about where we saw him at the club and what we wanted to do – it wasn’t just about playing, it was about being the face of the club.
“In the end we had to come up with a deal he was satisfied with. I have always seen him since 15 years old as a great leader, particularly a great Polynesian leader.
“He always had great enthusiasm, he is positive around the clubs. Great person. I chased him year after year after year.
“If you are taking over a club on the bottom of the ladder, what is the first thing you are going to sign? Not just a leader but a half.
“If you are a chance to sign Luai, you have to do it. That was my attitude. Benji had a huge influence on him. No doubt about that.”
The Tigers’ decision to throw their energy into Luai changed the course of negotiations. On December 16, reports emerged that Luai had told his Penrith teammates he was leaving the club at the end of the season to join the Tigers.
The night before, Richardson had spoken to Luai on the phone and for the first time, walked away convinced they were a chance.
Still, he was shocked the next day when news filtered out that Luai had made his call. Luai responded with a post on Instagram insisting there had been no deal signed and he would let everyone know when it was.
The Bulldogs were still lurking in the background waiting for a response to their offer. They were only willing to go to four years and were resigned to missing out given the radio silence from the Luai camp.
The Tigers were winning the fight but they still had to be patient.
“I had spoken to him the night before – we had talked about things and he was really excited about it,” Richardson said.
“It was the first time I felt we were a really good chance of getting him, the next day it came out that we had signed him and we hadn’t signed him. The deal was never done.
“It is really important to note that. I was getting texts and phone calls from everybody. It wasn’t done.”
A few weeks later, Luai told the Tigers he was heading away for a week to get his thoughts together. On Christmas Day, Luai made his first huge announcement – he and partner Bailey Paris Toleafoa revealed on social media that they were engaged.
Then, on January 2, Wright finally reached out to Richardson to ask whether they could do a joint press conference to confirm Luai’s decision.
At the same time, Luai called Marshall to relay the news. The next day, Luai fronted a media scrum and confirmed he was joining the Tigers next season.
“He has changed the club already, the way people think about us,” Richardson said.
“He is a good person. There is no negative about the deal. We had to do the deal. Whatever else we did, we had to do the deal.
“Simple as that. He is such a beautiful fit for us. It is just a perfect fit.”
Richardson didn’t need convincing but he got it anyway during one of his conversations with Luai. Asked what was his motivation, Luai ’s reply will be music to the ears of long-suffering Tigers fans.
“It’s all about rings Richo, it’s all about the rings,” Luai shot back.
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