Panthers champion Jarome Luai could miss World Cup games over offensive post

Penrith Panthers star Jarome Luai faces the possibility of missing games for Samoa after uploading a controversial post on Monday.

Jarome Luai shared several posts to Instagram after the victory.

Penrith Panthers champion Jarome Luai has shared an offensive term to his Instagram account after Sunday evening’s NRL Grand Final victory over the Parramatta Eels.

The Panthers secured their second consecutive premiership after dominating their cross-town rivals 28-12 in front of 82,415 fans at Sydney Olympic Park’s Accor Stadium.

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Ivan Cleary’s men celebrated the historic triumph in style, dousing themselves in champagne showers and cracking open several beers.

Early on Monday morning, Luai shared an image to Instagram of himself celebrating in the dressing rooms alongside Penrith teammate Jaeman Salmon, captioning the post: “My n****.”

The 25-year-old five-eighth deleted the post seven hours later.

The NRL integrity unit is aware of the controversial social media post while league management has not launched an investigation, The Daily Telegraph reported.

But the post could be set to cost Luai dearly with veteran journalist Paul Kent noting the indiscrection could see him miss games for Samoa at the World Cup.

“It’s a well known racial term which Penrith claim is a term of endearment, which is ridiculous,” Kent said on NRL 360.

“Honestly, at some point these blokes have got to be asked to act like men. They’re carrying on like 16-year-old schoolboys the way they’re caring on with this victory.

“Good on them, they’re so good but the line has gone too far and stuff like that, and another bloke called a player a name in a game last year and he got out for four weeks if you remember that.

“(Luai) runs the risk, he’s a proud Samoan and he’s going to play for Samoa in the World Cup and he’s a big chance of missing games now because again he got carried away with his own greatness.

“Someone at Penrith, whether it’s Ivan Cleary or Brian Fletcher the CEO, they have to call these guys in and say ‘guys show a bit of class, just a little bit, show some grace and humility’... because not one shred has been shown so far.

“Isaah Yeo and Dylan Edwards are the only ones you’d look at and can say can walk away with some kind of integrity from what they say. The rest just act like rat mugs.”

Jarome Luai shared several posts to Instagram after the victory.

In a separate Instagram post, Luai posed alongside the coveted Provan-Summons Trophy with the caption “daddy loves you”, a suspected jab at the Eels.

The Panthers came under fire 12 months ago for their social media activity following the 2021 NRL grand final.

Last year, former Penrith star Tyrone May was filmed using an offensive term during the team’s premiership celebrations.

The controversial footballer was filmed by teammate Viliame Kikau in an Instagram live Q+A using an offensive term in response to trolls who made reference to his sex tape scandal.

The video shows May approaching the camera alongside Kikau before saying: “I don’t give a f***. F*** every motherf***er, n***er”.