Jarome Luai PNG visit: Wests Tigers star faces scrutiny over travel while contracted recovering from injury
Hours after he hobbled from the field during Wests Tigers’ loss to North Queensland on Saturday night, Jarome Luai flew to Port Moresby to join good friend and PNG Prime Minister James Marape at a golf tournament.
Tigers officials confirmed on Sunday morning that Luai was due to undergo scans on the lower-leg injury he suffered during the 24-10 loss to the Cowboys in Townsville.
They remained hopeful he would be fit enough to pull on the club colours one last time on Sunday against Penrith before moving on to Parramatta in 2027, and then the PNG Chiefs in 2028.
On Monday morning, photos of Luai’s trip to Papua New Guinea surfaced on social media.
He was greeted by Marape at the airport, with PNG’s Post Courier newspaper reporting Luai was about to become one of the country’s regional tourism ambassadors.
Later in the day, Luai was a special guest at the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club where he rubbed shoulders with tournament winner, Josh Armstrong.
There was nothing stopping Luai from flying to Port Moresby in his own time, especially given the eight-day turnaround to the Tigers’ final game. The cameo proves just how close Luai has already become with Marape, who loves his nation’s golf championship.
Given there are no direct flights between Townsville and Port Moresby, the extended time in the air would not have been ideal for Luai’s leg injury.
Tigers officials were contacted for comment on Monday morning.
Luai’s big-money move to the Chiefs has become one of the biggest stories of the rugby league season.
The Tigers granted him permission to fly to PNG earlier this year before the 19th NRL franchise secured him as their first marquee signing.
Fans will be split over whether it is a good look for Luai to travel to PNG while still contracted to the Tigers, and with one match still to be played.
Nathan Cleary flew to Auckland over the weekend, but it was to watch his younger brother Jett make his NRL debut, rather than actively promote the rival region he will play for in 18 months, as Luai did.
There was a similar debate late last week involving Luai and the timing of him being unveiled as the face of Pepsi in Papua New Guinea.
As Tigers legend Benny Elias said: “The moment the board allowed him to visit Papua New Guinea was the beginning of the end. He’s come back, it was a circus, it’s still a circus, and this is the disastrous finale.”
Cashed-up Papua New Guinea companies who table lucrative third-party deals to players that have signed with the Chiefs will be eager to promote them as much as possible in the next year, even if they are still at rival clubs.
Meanwhile, the NRL is expected to review comments made by coach Benji Marshall, who labelled some of the refereeing decisions in the loss to the Cowboys as “outrageous”. One of Marshall’s gripes was Luai being denied a 90m try after Api Koroisau was ruled to have slapped at Tom Mikaele’s hands, rather than tackle him in the lead-up.
More to come
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