The Tackle: Jarome Luai’s father posts, deletes telling Instagram story after record Wests Tigers loss
If Sunday’s thrashing at the hands of the Storm wasn’t bad enough, a cheeky social media post from Jarome Luai’s father will leave Wests Tigers fans sweating bullets. See the deleted post.
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Look away Tigers fans.
If Sunday’s thrashing at the hands of the Storm wasn’t bad enough, a cheeky social media post from Jarome Luai’s father will add salt to the very deep 64-nil wound.
Luai’s father took to social media after the heavy loss with a post on Instagram seemingly teasing about the Tigers’ co-captain’s contract status.
“Get out clause activated,” he posted alongside a face palm and suss eyes emoji.
Luai signed a rich $6 million dollar deal until the end of 2029 but it has since been revealed the four-time premiership winner has a clause that allows him to hit the market from November 1.
Thankfully for worried Tigers fans, Luai himself has in recent weeks declared his intentions to remain at the club for the long haul.
And while Luai has publicly backed coach Benji Marshall in the wake of the Lachlan Galvin saga and the direction the club is heading, the social media post will undoubtedly leave Tigers fans feeling nervous.
So will the toothless showing against Melbourne that had shades of the Tigers of old.
Marshall labelled his side’s efforts as embarrassing and void of the fighting spirit the coach is trying to instil into the three-time wooden spooners.
There could be more pain on the way for the paper Tigers against South Sydney this week, with superstar Latrell Mitchell brimming with confidence after orchestrating a memorable victory against the Broncos.
ROUND 10 DISLIKES
VILE ABUSE
Penrith’s Mitch Kenny has hit back at betting-related online abuse after the Panthers hooker found himself at the receiving end of a vicious social media troll on Saturday night.
Online abuse might be commonplace for NRL players but that should never make social media attacks acceptable.
Kenny left plenty of fans scratching their heads when on the last play – with 20 seconds to go and score deadlocked against the Cowboys – he opted to run the ball from dummy half rather than pass to Nathan Cleary, who was in position to take a field goal.
One fan, however, took it further and unleashed a tirade of online abuse, suggesting Kenny had cost him a payout on a bet.
“F*****g useless c***, you’ve f*****g cost me a trillion dollars cause your a f*****g hog,” the fan said to Kenny via Instagram. “Imagine having the greatest ever player and not using him so the most f*****g mid c*** on the planet can scoot on the last play of the game instead of kicking a field goal.
“What could of possibly been going through your f*****g thick head.
“Moron. F*** you.”
Taking the abusive messages in his stride, Kenny replied: “Send us your bank details, I’ll send you the trillion sorry legend.”
Back in 2021, Josh Morris faced threatening online abuse from a disgruntled fan over a bit, leaving the former Roosters star to declare that NRL players “don’t care about your multis.”
It seems, unfortunately, that not much has changed and some fans still think it is acceptable to send players online abuse over failed bets.
With the Panthers on a bye next weekend, Kenny’s attention now turns to the Knights in round 12, when Penrith’s spine is likely to be without halfback Cleary and fullback Dylan Edwards, who will be on NSW Origin duty.
The Knights clash will also be a huge test for young playmaker Blaize Talagi with Cleary not around to pull the strings in the no. 7 jumper.
Talagi not only played his best game in Panthers colours, setting up four tries against the Cowboys, he took a slight dig at the Eels after the match on Saturday night revealing he is the happiest he has been since joining the premiers.
The 20-year old Parramatta junior gets the chance to twist the knife in Round 13, when he takes on the Eels for the first time since defecting to arch rivals Penrith.
BROWN BORED?
Dylan Brown’s every game, every word even, will come under intense scrutiny. None more than this week, when the Parramatta five-eighth takes on his future club Newcastle on Friday night.
It’s the burden attached to signing the richest deal in NRL history and one that comes with wearing the No.7 jumper, a role Brown is expected to play at the Knights in 2026.
The jury is still out on Brown’s credentials as a halfback but a telling pre-game interview has put the Eels five-eighth under the spotlight yet again.
“It’s so boring, it’s kicking to corners, it’s the boring stuff, tackling over and over again,” Brown said before Thursday’s clash when asked about the key to victory against the Dolphins.
The Parramatta playmaker’s reference to game management being ‘boring’ did not go unnoticed by Fox League analyst Greg Alexander.
“Dylan Brown, in the back of my mind... Did you listen to his interview just then, he said ‘that boring stuff’... it’s not his go, Newcastle are sitting there going, ‘wow, he’s got to do this for 10 years, he’s got to steer the ship for 10 years’, the boring stuff,” Alexander said.
“He’s good at the off the cuff stuff, run, step, beat someone, throw a great ball... he’s got to learn a lot (about being a halfback).”
Brown has flair but does he have the aptitude required to fall in love with the ‘boring stuff’, the methodical, clinical stuff, that the game’s elite halfbacks like Nathan Cleary reveal and excel in?
Even Immortal and club legend Andrew Johns doesn’t think so.
No doubt those at Newcastle who backed Brown’s 10-year deal are now also wondering if has the right temperament to be a chief playmaker.
BUMBLING BRONCOS
It’s groundhog day for Brisbane but in the worst possible ways.
The Broncos are now in an eerily similar predicament as last year, when after sitting sixth on the ladder with a 6-4 win/loss record missed out on a finals berth slumping to just four wins from the final 14 games of the 2024 season.
Today, Michael Maguire’s men are clinging onto a top eight spot and teetering with a 5-5 record.
What will worry Maguire the most is the fact that his side is showing the same signs as 12 months ago.
A star-studded Broncos outfit should have been able to dispose of a Rabbitohs side missing some serious fire power in the likes of Jack Wighton, Cameron Murray and Cody Walker.
Yet, Maguire’s men were simply out-enthused by a Rabbitohs outfit that showed the kind of never say die character and work ethic that Broncos coach is still trying to instil into his own side.
Maguire wants to add a hard edge to the Broncos but after giving up a 14-nil lead at halftime in a game that needed the aside willing to roll-up their sleeves in tough conditions, the coach still obviously has a way to go.
The Broncos will be expected to be too strong for the Dragons this week at Suncorp Stadium, and a loss will give naysayers further ammunition against the side.
It will also force a discussion that has not yet been a consideration given Maguire’s star-studded roster, which boasts the likes of Reece Walsh, Selwyn Cobbo, Kotoni Staggs, Adam Reynolds, Ezra Mam and Ben Hunt.
While Maguire has flair and flash at his disposal, does he have the right roster for the tough, uncompromising style of football he wants this Broncos team to play?
Are there too many so-called ‘rockstars’ and not enough toilers?
It’s a question Maguire will be forced to ask if the Broncos can’t avoid a similar fate to 2024.
O’BRIEN UNDER THE PUMP
Speaking before Friday’s clash Adam O’Brien said he could not help but feel empathy for his opposite coach Hasler, who is on the chopping block at the Titans.
It’s a level of scrutiny O’Brien knows all too well and is now under all over again at Newcastle.
Ill-discipline and fundamental errors dogged the Knights against the Titans, as they slumped to six losses from the past seven games.
O’Brien threatened to wield the axe this week and look at ‘better options’ in NSW Cup ahead of this week’s clash against the Eels.
Languishing in reserve grade is $800,000 playmaker Jackson Hastings and Tyson Gamble.
Even though the Knights also went down in NSW Cup, both Hastings and Gamble were busy in the halves against the Bears. Gamble scored a try, while Hastings’ pinpoint kicking also helped set up a four-pointer.
Hastings is said to be on the outer at the Knights amid speculation he is off with the playing group. But it might be time for O’Brien to take a leaf from Jarome Luai’s book, who recently declared teammates don’t have to be best mates when asked about his relationship with Lachlan Galvin.
If Hastings is the better option, ending his exile must be a consideration. Gamble, however, looks more likely to be named at halfback in place of Jack Cogger.
Rookie hooker Matt Arthur is also pressing his claims, topping the tackle count against the Bears and setting up a try.
ROUND 10 LIKES
POPULAR PURDUE
Cowboys gun Jaxon Purdue has caught the attention of Queensland coach Billy Slater but will no doubt be on the radar of newest franchise Perth Bears too.
Purdue is signed until the end of 2026 but hits the open market in just over five months and is expected to generate plenty of interest from rival outfits.
The teenager, who is expected to be called into Maroons wider squad during the Origin period, delivered an impressive showing against the Panthers, finishing with 193 metres, a try assists, two line break assists and three tackle busts.
Purdue came through the ranks in the halves but has not looked out of place at centre for the Cowboys.
That versatility will also help make him a hot commodity on the player market.
While the Bears will have to wait until November 1 to make any approach to players contracted until the end of 2026, Slater urged the NRL to give the newest club an “exemption” to that rule.
“I think you need to give them a leg up to get started, just because it didn’t happen to the Dolphins it doesn’t mean it’s correct,” Slater said on Channel 9.
“ If you are going to start a new club you have to give them every opportunity to set themselves up,”
The Dolphins had asked for a similar exemption in 2022 but it was rejected by the NRL.
TITANS FIGHT FOR HASLER
Des Hasler stared into the abyss at full-time after the Titans pulled off a come-from-behind win against the Knights.
Hasler’s days appear to be numbered at the club after this masthead revealed the Titans can sack the coach if he misses out on the finals.
Friday night’s win buys Hasler time and more importantly shows his players have a level of faith in his leadership.
“It has been a big week, we stuck together... Today we got the chocolates. I’m glad we got it for ourselves as a club, a team and also for Dessie,” skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui said after the game.
Hasler’s stunned look at full-time said it all about the roller coaster that is NRL coaching.
But the image of the Titans management, including co-owner Rebecca Frizelle and CEO Steve Mitchell, on the sideline at Newcastle said even more.
Was management on hand to put players and coaching staff on notice, or was it a show of solidarity for Hasler and his troops?
Their presence seemingly helped elicit a response from players given the Titans had lost five-straight before Friday’s win.
Hasler might have to call on the top brass again this week when the Titans travel to Canberra to take on the Raiders, who will be looking to bounce back after self-destructing in the second half, giving up a 20-nil lead against the Bulldogs.
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