‘Trading in his happiness’: Jarome Luai’s brutal question after icy Panthers drama

Jarome Luai’s eyes are full of zeros and his week of drama has exposed a brutal question about his NRL future.

Is the extra zero worth the pain? Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

COMMENT

The simplest way for Jarome Luai to show loyalty to Penrith is to callously abandon them for the most enormous deal on offer.

Why?

Because standing underneath the goalposts every three minutes for an also-ran will have him homesick and agitating for a release by round 15.

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Nobody begrudges the wild Panther’s pursuit of a big daddy payday, nor any other free agent exploiting the pathos of cashed-up spooners.

However, let him be warned.

Accepting desperado money is like signing with the devil – that’s the actual devil or Gus Gould – and could leave him maligned and seeking refuge in camps, namely Queensland Origin camps.

Luai has to ask himself as those extra zeros stare back at him — are they worth being like Ben Hunt?

It was a long year for Ben Hunt. Photo: NRL Imagery

All Luai knows is winning. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images

This is not just a warning against signing with St George-Illawarra – one of Luai’s potential suitors – which admittedly would be terrible in itself.

It’s about trading in his happiness to be a curmudgeon who’s unable to endure a single press conference without staring down the barrel of the camera and flipping the bird at his bosses.

For those unaware, there’s one playmaker at the Dragons who potentially could be in custody and it isn’t Junior Amone.

Joining the joint venture in 2018 on a reported $1.2m a year, Hunt and the Dragons enjoyed an opening to their relationship that was unified and blissful.

However, like most marriages, relations slowly dried up before the sniping through friends began, and now they refuse to make eye contact.

It all reached a head following the sacking of coach and close confidante Anthony Griffin, with Hunt requesting a release citing the club’s front office issues, mainly that it was full of people he didn’t like.

With news of the divorce emerging while among a bosom of supportive chums at Queensland Origin camp, it was rumoured Hunt even offered to pay compensation from his own pocket just to get the hell out of there.

Ben Hunt had one foot on the plane to Brisbane. Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images

While since tenuously resolved with Hunt agreeing to fulfill his contract – declaring he’s committed to kicking stones for the full remaining two years – he is now loathed by his own fans and dogged weekly by question marks over his commitment.

Is Luai prepared to similarly set fire to his happiness, even despite receiving enough paper to fire-blanket the flames?

Sure, not all basket case clubs and their marquee signings share a radioactive marriage of counter-conditions and taunt-tennis that make Will Smith’s look like Bert and Patti.

But as a firebrand born from weekly dominance – and a man who doesn’t need a presser to unleash barbs, just a stable internet connection – it’s easy to envisage Luai facing similar challenges in a flea-ridden dog’s bed.

Think about it Jarome. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

This was predictably echoed by Ivan Cleary, with the coach espousing the difficulties of being ‘The Man’ while gently urging his five-eighth to stop kidding himself and accept the generous $1.7m two-year deal on offer.

Luai responded via social media with “know your worth”, a curious quip tying in neatly with other posts from his back catalogue because as it stands for 2025, his value remains a mystery because he “doesn’t have work tomorrow”.

If Hunt’s current life isn’t enough to terrify Jarome, perhaps he should also consider the journeys of former teammates Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau and Api Koroisau.

These blokes all took the payrise and are now blowing the overheads on September Contiki.

– Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad.

He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Originally published as ‘Trading in his happiness’: Jarome Luai’s brutal question after icy Panthers drama