Jarome Luai has to be rescued as Blues dare goes horribly wrong

Blues five-eighth Jarome Luai says his life flashed before his eyes as a NSW team bonding session went horribly wrong.

Jarome Luai is assisted from a wave pool on Tuesday morning.

NSW five-eighth Jarome Luai has hilariously been dragged out of the water at the Blues’ recovery session at man-made surf park URBNSURF.

While all of his teammates were doing their best to catch a wave on a surfboard on Tuesday morning, Luai took a different approach.

He jumped into the surf with a bodyboard, but it seems Penrith doesn’t have many beaches outside of ‘Pondi’, a lakeside swimming spot in Sydney’s west.

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The Panthers superstar admitted he “jumped the gun” and got himself into trouble as he was spotted holding on to a lifeguard’s rescue tool, being dragged along the side of the wave pool to safety.

Fox Sports News’ Cody Kaye reported that Luai, not a strong swimmer, had been dared to take part but “within about a minute found himself needing to be rescued”.

“I think my life flashed before my eyes out there ... bit of a laugh, hey,” Luai told reporters.

“I just jumped the gun hey, just wanted to attack it head on but almost died out there. Grateful to be alive.”

Jarome Luai is assisted from a wave pool on Tuesday morning.

URBNSURF Sydney contacted news.com.au about the incident and stressed safety is always the venue’s top priority.

“Our number one priority at URBNSURF is the safety of patrons at all times,” general manager Shaun Hutchinson said in a statement.

“It was fantastic to host the NSW Origin team this morning at our new surf park and while we understand the excitement of the occasion, all guests are required to participate in the mandatory safety briefing before entering the water and get in the water at the designated entry points.

“During this morning’s session URBNSURF had multiple lifeguards, surf guides and surf coaches supporting the players in the water at all times.”

An “embarrassed” Luai ultimately was a brilliant sport about the incident.

“It is what it is. It was a good laugh for the boys and I think that’s why we’re here anyway,” he said.

“There’s no beaches at Penrith, we don’t get much practice out there. I thought I’d try my luck anyway but it didn’t go too well.”

Meanwhile, Fox Sports News’ Jim Callinan said: “Fun and games for most, maybe not for Jarome Luai. The kid from Penrith maybe hasn’t done a lot of surfing in his days growing up in Sydney’s west.”

The NSW squad completed a recovery session at the wave pool on Tuesday before it travels to the Blue Mountains to their Fairmont Resort camp.

Originally published as Jarome Luai has to be rescued as Blues dare goes horribly wrong