Jarome Luai can never play for NSW Blues again - but it’s not all his fault

Whether you like him or not, Jarome Luai is good for rugby league - but there’s a big reason why he should never don the sky blue again.

Jarome Luai of the Blues reacts after been sent off for head butting Reece Walsh of the Maroons during game two of the State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues at Suncorp Stadium on June 21, 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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Whether the Braith Anasta/Jarrod Mullen halves pairing or the dynamic centre/wing duo of Josh Addo-Carr and Damien Cook, New South Wales has endured its fair share of failed combinations through the years.

But if there’s one combination that has failed to gel more spectacularly than most, it’s the recent combination of New South Wales and hubris.

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This state has always suffered an inverse proportion of wins to the number of tickets it has on itself, but it’s only in drastic lows like now that we prefer blokes like Jarome Luai to switch themselves to airplane mode.

Before I start yelling at a cloud, let’s get fair dinkum. Whether you like him or not, Luai is good for rugby league.

He’s a drawcard who struts to the beat of his own boom box, a walking Gen Z trigger-finger that riles up boomers and opposition fans alike.

But his standover moves at marker, power-stances at anthem time and curiously-worded posts at full time aren’t meshing with the sky blue jersey as harmoniously as they once did - and none of its his fault.

Luai stands over DCE in Game II.

Some fans weren’t happy with Luai’s anthem stance. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Nope, it’s because in the current climate, there is no brand less deserving of swag than New South Wales.

In fact, mentioning ego in the same sentence as the Blues is as unnatural as fusing doughnuts and Twisties, a blend that should be seen nowhere but a footpath outside a pub at 5am.

We all agree a New South Welshman leaning in to the puffed-up shtick is nothing new in the pantheon of Origin stereotypes, a land where Sydneysiders toss wagyu scraps to starving Queenslanders from the deck of their catamarans.

Strewth, most of the time we New South Welshpeople would even celebrate it - if we had something to celebrate.

But sadly, Luai and this Blues side forgot long ago how to win, but not how to posture and post.

Nobody would’ve minded Luai brashly ‘feeding the haters’ had Brad Fittler’s side accomplished anything on Wednesday night other than fulfilling its obligation under the TV deal.

Jarome Luai's spicy Instagram post.

Jarome Luai of the Blues and Reece Walsh of the Maroons scuffle. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Had the Panther’s ‘drip’ come amid a rousing series-levelling victory he could’ve drunk as much of his own bathwater as he liked, and we would’ve encouraged him to spit it skywards like a fountain and bathe in the mist of his own self-assurance.

But when you’ve lost four of your last five Origins, such flair only intensifies the glare on our god-awful football side.

In Luai’s defence, his controversial after-match Instagram post taunting fans about “going to work tomorrow” was explained as a return of serve to online trolls and death threats, and we all agree the five-eighth was well within his right to give these fruitcakes both barrels.

But like the majority of positives he’s accomplished in his career, if he had his time again, maybe he wouldn’t have posted without Nathan Cleary on his inside.

In summary, the New South Wales rugby league team needs to concentrate on performance rather than personality, and until they fire a shot, I call upon the NSWRL to gag their players and pixelate their faces on all broadcasts.

Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Originally published as Jarome Luai can never play for NSW Blues again - but it’s not all his fault