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Jarome Luai in bombshell $6 million Wests Tigers development amid NRL saga

The Penrith Panthers five-eighth may have made his mind up.

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Jarome Luai reacts and Luai runs out.
Jarome Luai (pictured) has reportedly signed a five-year deal with $6 million to the Wests Tigers and is set leave the Panthers at the end of next season. (Getty Images)

Jarome Luai has reportedly signed with the Wests Tigers on a whopping $6 million deal for five years with the five-eight set to leave the Panthers, but he has 10 days to backflip on the move. Luai has been involved in one of the biggest open market sagas in recent years with the three-time premiership winner looking at offers after the Panthers didn't budge on their contract extension offer.

The Panthers offered Luai a boosted contract between $800,000 to $850,000 per year to keep him at the club. But the Tigers were reported to have offered him $4.5 million deal for four years.

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However, on Saturday, Michael Chammas from The Sydney Morning Herald reported Luai had signed for the Tigers on a whopping $6 million deal across five years. The extra year will see Luai at the club through 2030.

The news is a huge win for the Tigers with the club going through turmoil across the last two years. After two straight wooden spoons, the Tigers board went through an upheaval this week with interim chairman Shane Richardson stepping in amid the chaos.

Richardson signalled his intent to land Luai, regardless of the board upheaval, and coach Benji Marshall appears to have landed the representative five-eighth. Chammas reported that the new NRL trade deal means the Panthers now have 10 days to attempt to persuade Luai to stay at the club. There is no doubt the Panthers will want to keep their winning halves combination, but without boosting their deal, it appears it might not be enough.

Benji Marshall walks to the game.
Tigers coach Benji Marshall (pictured) is reported to have landed Jarome Luai's signature for 2025. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

The NRL quickly reacted the mega deal for Luai with mixed responses. Penrith fans were sad to see Luai leave after helping build a formidable partnership with Nathan Cleary, which has seen them win three-straight NRL premierships. Tigers fans were thrilled to have landed a five-eighth with pedigree who will now link up with former teammate Api Koroisau. While other NRL fans were astonished at the $6 million figure.

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Richardson, the former South Sydney CEO, has long been an admirer of the five-eighth, having previously tried to sign the 26-year-old at the Rabbitohs. “I’ve made my feelings on Luai well known for a long while. In my opinion, he was the best young half coming through,” Richardson said.

Richardson was full of praise for Luai and his endorsement leaves the Tigers as huge frontrunners for the five-eighth's signature. “He’s proven at the highest level he was the best young half coming through," Richardson said about Luai.

"Not only that, he’s a great team leader, that Penrith side revolves around Luai. He is a great person off the field despite what many media people try to make out. You couldn’t meet a better person than him and you couldn’t ask for a better person at your club.”

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