With the speculation putting us in the box seat for Wests Tigers Five-Eighth and Captain, Jarome Luai, the discussion has been lack of a better word "Split". Quite honestly it is 50/50 on either side. Then you have me who can see points of both sides. Let's go through some discussion points.
How do we benefit?: Many are comparing this to the Pezet deal and how that did not work. If anything this would have been the dream signing for this year as a one year deal. But this is different in terms of what we get out of the one year committment. Let's be fair, like Wests with the options to get Luai, it is unlikely unless a stop over that we ever get close to Luai at Parramatta. But having him here adds value as soon as he is in the building. Unlike Pezet who is here to make sure toddlers of the future are ready soon, he himself is a toddler in footy terms. He was more of a plug filler than a mentor. Luai is a mentor as well a plug filler. He is a 4x premiership winner, played Origin and was a part of Samoa making the 2022 WC final. He has been a part of winning systems, he knows what winning looks like. He is a competitor. A big difference also for him is having a proper Halfback in Moses, one he has worked well with in the past.
Also, let's say either Talataina or Fletcher are the future 6 in 2028, it would be a better proposition to bring them in for Moses with Luai there and vice versa. Compared to right now where if Moses goes down you do not want Talataina or Fletcher pairing up with Papali'i, Pezet or Volkman. So having Luai there as that option is Moses is injured or in Origin, those two are in good hands on the field at least which helps their development into first grade. Another topic was we should keep Volkman as a back-up. I think that is a good idea, however on the other end having Fletcher play 7 in Cup all year helps massively as it gives you not one but two options in lower grades as to the future at 6. I know Cup performances are seen as important, they really aren't in the grand scheme of things. I would rather minimise the success of Cup to blood Fletcher with Talataina, then have Volkman for a year where he possibly goes elsewhere in 2028 anyway. Then you have Talataina sitting there maybe ready, maybe not.
Another element is Ryles. He has two years left on his deal. Come the end of 2027, if he has another 5-7 win season, he could be gone. With Luai, it gives you the chance to win possibly another 2-3 games. Not saying he can do that but it gives you a better chance. Those wins could be the difference of a top 8 birth or not and the difference of Ryles keeping his job for 2028 and getting an extension. Not saying he should be under the pump, but he will be.
Finally, money wise it is not a big deal for the year. We do not seem to be going massively in recruitment in terms of quantity. We have a lot of spots available for 2027 still, adding Luai for $700-900k for one year would not be a drop in a pond as it is off the books and we weren't going deep for 2027 recruiting anyway in terms of amount of signings we make. Not like we sign Leniu and think damn we could have signed two more middles instead of Luai, we aren't doing that. Now you could argue we could top up deals, well with the amount of money we have that is a lot of topping up to do. So salary should not be an issue.
How does it not benefit us: Come 2028, we could be back to square one. Moses has 2 years left after 2027, he will be 34 in 2028. Having a year with a rookie (Fletcher or Talataina) could be a write off year. Who knows maybe we could have a great 2027, take that momentum into 2028 and say Fletcher or Talataina just slip right in and go with it. But It also leads to that player only have two years of NRL before they more likely have a new Halfback along side them. Therefore that could be another short period of building. Lets say we went with Lorenzo for 2027, it is another year of footy under his belt. Another possible 20-25 games of experience.
Or we could do the approach of getting say Burton for 2028. Though fixes the issue post Moses slightly, it doesn't help giving Moses what would be his 6th combination in 4 years (Brown, Papali'i, Pezet, Volkman, Luai, Burton). Towards the end of his career continuity would be key for Moses.
One other negative, that has been brought up on the side of the Wests Tigers, is Luai could be a pied piper for players to follow to PNG. Currently, the Eels have 16 of next years top 30 off-contract in 2027. 17 if De Belin's CO is taken up. Out of those 16, you would believe the club would want to keep at least half of them or even more. Sprinkling in a few external signings and juniors into top 30. It is of those half that could be off to PNG with Luai. Is that something you want in your club, someone behind the scenes planting seeds to follow them to a new spot. We have already had two of our players, Williams and de Belin, linked to PNG. Granted, the links to PNG are inevitable for certain players and the lure is real due to the salary and unknown. But there might be some players on their radar from Luai recommendation. Trust me, Luai would be able to say to Chammas to look at a certain player to sign.
Overall, a one year deal is seen as very low risk. An issue could be a player overstaying their welcome, Matteson of late and Watmough of the past. So if Luai has a poor year, so be it he is gone. If he works, then great but we need to hope the person identified behind him works out.
Replies
I can't see why anyone would hate on this deal... As LB said, it at least makes sense and the biggest difference to the Pezet one is that we're at bringing in an experienced player. No hate on the rest, but Luai is a step above Pezet/Volkman/Papalii, and if we're truly looking to invest in our junior halves as the future, then you'd 100% want them to be pairing Moses/Luai.
The PNG link isn't a problem imo as the draw of a big payday will be present regardless of Luai's appearance at the club.
My biggest concern is the club needs to not get complacent or comfortable after this. It gives them another year to flesh out plans, but they need to build on this with continued signings to accelerate out of any sort of "rebuild".
My my concern with the PNG link with Luai is not so much PNG's prescence. As i mentioned above, they would go after players regardless, like Williams for example. But Luai could bring to their attention other players they may not have thought about. I mean he could say "Kautoga i love playing next to, give him a deal" type of thing. Where without Luai they probably had other edges in mind. They could be inclined to listen to their marquee signing to keep him happy.
But yeah to your first paragraph, if you bring in Fletcher or Talataina, you would rather have Moses or Luai next to them as they debut instead of Volkman or Joash.
I'd make Williams captain or co captain to help keep him close personally 🤔
He will be 31 at the end of next year, he might be good for another year or two but we have at least 3 middles that will be pushing for regular FG in 2028.
I'd be more worried about petrus and not Kautoga to be honest
The lins to PNG thing is not a huge worry.
For 2028, we have very few top 30 players that I would be scared to lose.
Iongi, Tuivati, Da Silva, Kautoga, Penisini maybe, Teancum and Riley Smith maybe might be the only players I'm sure I want tied down for 2028 other than those signed longer like Moses or Su'A. Hopgood too depending on injury.
Everyone else to me would be either too old or easily replaceable. Even the likes fo Kautoga and Penisini I won't be annoyed if their development stalls.
Short sighted just looking at players we could lose in '28. You can easily imagine PNG targeting someone in 29, 30 or later and Luai doing some of the back handed recruiting work. Texting away stuff like "bro, you don't look happy there at Parra". Going for coffee with an old mate when he's in Sydney. That's how these things work. He's only here for 8 months but he's the kind of larger than life personality that can be very persuasive. Why do you think Benji wanted him gone?
We can live like this and await the worst. We need to work to keep those players here and if they leave in 2030 then OK, players move all the time.
Though on the other end, we have no clue how life in PNG would be either. It could get to the end of 2028 and a few players are looking to get out of there. Living there wont be the easiest with the environment and weather. Who knows, maybe the money is that good players just cop it, a few will. But even Luai put a PO in his deal for 2030, he even has one toe out the door if it is not a great place to be.
PNG is still very much an unknown in how players will go living in a compound. 2028 is a worry as players are going in blind, nobody has had experience living there so many players will see dollar signs and go. Come 2029 or 2030, the view of going there, despite the cash, might be a lot different.
Also, yeah i said it could be a concern but as soon as Luai signed with the Chiefs, the talk was Turuva and the May bros. would follow. The opposite happened. So that could be a sign? PNG is a boogeyman for NRL teams, but i feel it could be less scary than we all perceive it to be.
It also takes a lot of pressure off Moses while da Silva iiongi and smith develop. It also takes pressure of those juniors and gives them another year to develop. Then in 2028 if taletina or fletcher is looking ready they'll slot into a spine where everyone has 50+ games and 2 years of learning each others games.
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