‘Mad not to take the money’: Panthers up ante as Jarome Luai call nears

Three-time premiership winning five-eighth Jarome Luai has been given a stark reality check after the Panthers blink first in contract standoff.

Everything’s coming up Jarome. Picture: Adam Yip

The Panthers have reportedly stepped up their offer to Jarome Luai in a bid to convince the three-time premiership winner to stay at the club.

Luai was told by Penrith earlier this month that they were only in a salary cap position to offer him $800,000 beyond and that he was free to look at his options on the open market.

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But with reports that other clubs could offer as much as $300,000 more than the Panthers, the back-to-back-to-back premiers have now upped the ante, offering Luai a $1.7m two year deal to extend until the end of 2026.

Luai is set to go to the open market after November 1.

The five-eighth announced last week that he would sign with management company Black Money Enterprises, which was believed to be the clearest sign that he’d test his value.

Black Money also manage Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker.

Luai split with management company SFX in July and a condition of NRL contracts state players must wait 90 days before signing with a new agent.

However, the company also reportedly offered to waive the “90-day termination clause” on the condition that the Panthers negotiated directly with Luai and his family.

The issue comes as the more success the Panthers have had, the more the players need to get paid.

Penrith have already re-signed Dylan Edwards, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin to long-term deals this season with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Brian To’o and Moses Leota signed until at least 2027.

Panthers rugby league boss Matt Cameron said he would not go into depth on where Luai’s negotiations had gone so far.

“Jarome is aware of the club’s capacity moving forward,” Cameron told The SMH.

“He will obviously command interest on the open market and we have no problem with him investigating all his options if he needs to after the first of November.”

The Panthers have upped their offer to keep Jarome Luai at the club. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Speaking on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Gus, Jude and Wendell, NRLW star Millie Elliot (nee Boyle) said that he’s sure “he will test the open market but his best footy is alongside Nathan Cleary.”

Sailor added that if he was Luai, he’d take the extra $50k and stay because “He’s got two or three more contracts in him.”

At 26 years old, Luai definitely has time on his side.

Speaking on Triple M last week, Panthers legend Mark Geyer said if he were Luai, he’d stay put at Penrith.

“He’s won three competitions with Penrith, you look at some of the other players who have left Penrith of the last few seasons, only someone like (Kurt) Capewell at the Broncos have seen sucess,” Geyer said.

“Sometimes money doesn’t buy happiness — and competitions do. He’s won three in a row, why not make it four?”

Asked what he would do, Geyer said: “Deep down, you’d be mad not to take the money... I’d stay because that feeling of winning every week and being a part of that, it’s contagious. When you’re losing and on a lot of money, it doesn’t make you feel good.”

Luai is currently recovering from shoulder surgery after he played through the pain in the NRL finals before leaving the field in the 52nd minute after his shoulder lost power in the second half.

Originally published as ‘Mad not to take the money’: Panthers up ante as Jarome Luai call nears