Jarome Luai detail singled out as Blaize Talagi makes bold admission about Panthers move
Talagi and Luai are in camp together for Samoa's tour of England.
Penrith recruit Blaize Talagi says he's keen to pick the brain of Jarome Luai after revealing his ambition to make the four-time Panthers premiership winner's former No.6 jersey his own. Luai is set to join the Wests Tigers in 2025 after signing a massive five-year deal reportedly worth around $6 million to become the marquee player for coach Benji Marshall's side.
Luai's move leaves a huge hole to fill at the Panthers, with Jack Cole and Brad Schneider also vying to play five-eighth alongside Nathan Cleary after both impressed at times in the halves for Penrith in 2024. But Talagi - who was a revelation on the wing for the Eels in his rookie NRL season this year - has revealed that his preference is to take Luai's old five-eighth jersey at the Panthers next season.
Talagi played two games in the halves for Parramatta after Mitch Moses suffered a foot injury early in the season but it wasn't a great fit for the Eels and they lost both games. However, the 19-year-old shone when he was used as an outside back for Parramatta and was particularly effective on the wing as his blistering speed and finishing abilities came to the fore.
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Blaze must be quicker than I thought. I must've had my TV on slow mo when he was playing LOL
I was disappointed in seeing him go, but not THAT disappointed. He was promising sure, but so was Tim Smith. Look how that panned out. His defence was awful, but as we've seen with Mitchell Moses, that can be fixed.
But yeh I agree, maybe I was watching different games to this journo. His lowlights reel was a lot longer than his highlights one.
Well I have said for a while now that Hoe has more journlistic ability in his "pinkie" than these blokes who write this shit.
I actually wonder if this journalist actually ever saw him play?
Talagi is a talent and has some good qualities. His speed is not a out there quality. He is not slow but not fast either. He is just normal. But if it was the other way and he signed for us via Penrith, It would just be Talagi is coming to Parra, some stats, positions and that is it. Not exciting as it's only Parra.
Don't get me wrong, its not about the kid, just the "dopey" journo that has done no homework other than superficial "fluff".
Exactly, they make it worse with who they go to.
It's the off season, we need something to talk about.
Agreed.... i think I am just pissed that this kid had so many wraps on him that were fundamentally untrue.....now in saying this opinions were/are subjective when it comes to individual players......one thing we can be certain of is that he does not have "blistering pace"..... that's not the kids fault just the guys that have beaten up this story and therefore invites the conclusion that we are "idiots" and fact checking would give that a good chance of being true, your's truly (that's me) being the real idiot for bringing it up. LOL
Some further analysis is that I think he possibly cost us about 3 games with his defence towards the conclusion of the season (and his move to Penrith) and the fact he was allowed to finish in first grade still annoys me.
We just didn't have enough depth to replace him. We were on fumes towards the end of the year and I agree, he cost us more games than he won, that's for sure.
Sadly, I think he will crush it at Penrith alongside Cleary, but he was never going to replace Dylan or Moses, and he couldn't defend in the centers or wing, so we should just move on.
The media have taken a bit of a blow torch to Parra towards the end of the year, so take anything the Journo's say with a grain of salt. Once we start winning a few games then they won't have too much to say about Ryles's decisions.
The more the journalists talk Talagi up, the more likely he is to fail. Expectations increase with every positive article, piling the pressure on his shoulders.
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