Jarome Luai unavailable for Wests Tigers until 2025 due to Samoa selection

The Wests Tigers plan to forge a combination between star recruit Jarome Luai and young five-eighth Lachlan Galvin in the pre-season has hit a major hurdle.

The Wests Tigers’ hopes of making a fast start next year have hit an early hurdle as star recruit Jarome Luai prepares to join Samoa on their tour of England, leaving him off limits to his new club until the new year.

Luai is expected to be named in the Samoan side on Tuesday for their two Tests against England, to be played on October 27 and November 2.

While it is a huge show of support for Samoa and their coach Ben Gardiner, it shapes as a setback for the Tigers and Marshall as they look to forge a combination between Luai and young five-eighth Lachlan Galvin in the pre-season.

Jarome Luai is set to play for Samoa in October and November. Picture: Getty Images

Senior players are mandated to have up to 10 weeks of holidays at the end of every season, which means Luai won’t appear at Tigers training until January.

The Tigers are coming off another disappointing season but there is genuine hope at the club that Luai can spark a rapid revival in concert with teenager Galvin, who would have been rookie of the year had he not been suspended during the season.

Tigers supporters are licking their lips in anticipation as they prepare to welcome Luai to the club along with premiership-winner Sunia Turuva, Cronulla forward Royce Hunt and Bulldogs winger Jared Skelton.

Lachlan Galvin has representative honours of his own to serve in the post-season after being selected to play in the Prime Minister’s XIII. Picture: Getty Images

It is understood Skelton and Hunt are also under consideration for the Samoan side. Four-time premiership winner Luai, however, is seen as the centrepiece of the rebuild as he prepares to take charge of the Tigers.

It shapes as a critical year for Marshall as he looks to give Tigers fans some hope that the club is heading in the right direction, having finished this year with their third wooden spoon in succession.

Luai has been a pivotal figure in the resurgence of Samoa on the international stage and there is a belief that he will replicate that at the Tigers given the potential for his partnership with Galvin, who is set to make his representative debut in the Prime Minister’s XIII side in Papua New Guinea this weekend.

Originally published as Jarome Luai unavailable for Wests Tigers until 2025 due to Samoa selection