‘Dating my sister’: Jarome Luai opens up on iconic Panthers dynasty photo

On the eve of what could be their final game together for Penrith, long-time halves Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary have opened up on the day they first ran out alongside each other for the club.

It will go down as one of the most iconic photos of the Penrith dynasty.

Almost 10 years after their first game in Panthers colours, Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai will run out in Saturday’s preliminary final against Cronulla for what could be the final time as a club combination.

Luai had long been earmarked as a star of the future during his teens, evidenced by his elevation into the under-20s competition in 2015 despite being just 17 years old.

Cleary, one year younger, had only just been promoted into SG Ball.

But the origin of one of the game’s greatest halves partnerships was born in a 48-8 thrashing of Western Suburbs in Campbelltown.

Cleary scored half their points with two tries and a perfect eight-from-eight with the boot, while Luai bagged two tries himself in a team that also featured Liam Martin.

It was Luai’s idea to capture that moment in time.

“I remember it very vividly,” Luai recalled.

“It was raining that day and it was me that asked to take that photo of us. I do remember the old days a bit and what it was like.

“I think those days... that’s when footy is at its most fun and enjoyable.”

Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary in the Penrith Harold Matts team.

But what Luai didn’t know was that the photo would be the beginning of a story about two kids from Penrith who would rise as one of the most dominant halves duos in the NRL era.

Or that the youngster to the left, Vincennes Fialelei-Ausage, would one day be more than just a teammate. Joe Vaegaau, far right, captained St Marys in the Ron Massey Cup this year.

“Funny enough, MJ (Fialelei-Ausage) is dating my sister. I see MJ a lot more than the others,” Luai said.

“Joe Vaegaau, I grew up with him playing in the same St Marys team too.

“I really rate all my peers coming through the grades and backed them all to be where we are now but everyone’s circumstances are a bit different.

“I guess we are the lucky ones that came through.”

Back then, it was Luai who was all the rage in rugby league circles out in Penrith.

Cleary had heard all the rumblings about the exploits of Luai’s talents when the Cleary family first moved to the foot of the mountains in 2012 for his first stint as coach.

They would be local junior rivals before coming together in the Panthers junior pathways system to eventually emerge as three-time premiership winners.

“My first memory of Jarome himself, I moved to Penrith when I was 14 years old and I reckon one of the first people I heard about in terms of footy was ‘Romey’,” Cleary said.

“I came up against him one day, I was playing for Brothers Penrith and he was playing for St Marys. He was just a freak.

“We played together later that year and that’s how that photo came about.”

After joining forces as a playmaking combination in the under-16s Harold Matthews Cup, Cleary and Luai have gone on to play 128 first games together in the halves.

Not since Parramatta playmaking legends Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling teamed up in the 1980s has a halves combination won four titles together.

But Cleary and Luai are on the cusp of their own unique piece of rugby league history.

No halves combination has won four consecutive premierships since Brian Clay and Bob Bugden for St George between 1958-1961.

“If you had told us then what we would go on to achieve it would have been a far-fetched dream,” Cleary said.

“It’s pretty special looking back on it.”

Penrith junior Vincennes "MJ" Fialelei-Ausage in action for Blacktown Workers.

Cleary paid tribute to former teammates like Fialelei-Ausage and Vaegaau.

“They were great players back then. I think about that team, me and Romy were just the lucky ones that were able to make it through,” Cleary said.

“It almost feels in a way you are representing them as well in what we are doing now.”

But this year, Fialelei-Ausage, Vaegaau and every other current NRL teammate has been a passenger on Luai’s ‘last ride’ before he joins the Wests Tigers in 2025.

It’ll bring an end to 11 years with his junior club.

“(It’s about) making every moment count, I think that’s sort of come into play a bit more strongly, with the feelings and stuff like that,” Luai said.

“It’s do-or-die now, regardless of if it’s your last ride or not.

“It’ll be the last game this year if we lose,” he said.

“When the stakes are at their highest, that’s when the intensity of the game and your preparation is going to be just as high as well.”

Penrith junior Joe Vaegaau currently plays for the St Marts Saints in the Ron Massey Cup.

And just like that photo captured almost a decade ago, winger Brian To’o has his own memory of the moment his bond with a teammate that has become one of his best mates.

“I was only my third game in 2019, I was still pretty fresh in the NRL,” To’o recalled.

“When you’re a rookie winger the more experienced NRL players always try to come after you and target you. We were playing at home against Manly.

“We were stuck in the corner and I took that first carry and one of their middles gave me a good solid clothes line. The first person to run and have my back is Romey.

“That was the first moment where I committed myself to protecting this guy no matter what.”

While To’o isn’t ready to embrace the emotion of farewelling his Panthers brother, the 26-year old will do everything in his power to ensure the last stop in Luai’s last ride is the premiership trophy podium in the middle of Accor Stadium on the first Sunday in October.

“People ask me (about Luai leaving), but I try not to think about it until that very last moment,” To’o said.

“Now, while he’s still here we are trying to make the most of it and make the days count. It definitely feels like the days are counting down now.

“But hopefully we can send him out on a high note.”