Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has admitted rival clubs would be taking a risk offering Jarome Luai more than $1m a season to be their chief playmaker given his inexperience in that role.
On the same day Penrith announced MyPlace as the club’s new major sponsor for the next three years, all the questions were about which place Luai would soon be calling home.
Ivan Cleary with Jarome Luai after the club’s 2022 grand final triumph against Parramatta.Credit: Getty
Luai entered free agency on Wednesday and is expected to attract long-term and lucrative offers in excess of $1m a season from rival clubs in the coming weeks.
As reported by the Herald last week, the Panthers have tabled Luai a two-year, $1.7m offer to remain at the club in 2025 and 2026 but the NSW and Samoan representative has instead opted to test his value on the open market.
The Panthers coach believes the amount of money that would be required to lure Luai away from his junior club would be the type of investment typically handed to the team’s No.1 playmaker.
The coach admits that rival clubs would be banking on the unknown, and wanted Luai – a local junior and a three-time premiership-winner – to remain as his son Nathan Cleary’s right-hand man.
Stephen Crichton with Panthers and Samoa teammates Brian To’o and Jarome Luai after the grand final win.Credit: NRL Photos
“I think that’s the biggest thing at play here,” Ivan Cleary said at the announcement of the largest sponsorship deal in the club’s history at Panthers Academy on Wednesday.
“If any club wants to give him the money you’re talking – the money that he would maybe consider leaving for – it would have to be for that kind of role. I can understand that. Is he ready for that? That’s the question mark, I would think.
“Could he do it? I’m sure he could do it. Has he done it? No he hasn’t. He’s done a little bit with Samoa, of course, at last year’s World Cup, but generally speaking in this team he’s had his role to play and it’s slightly different. I guess that’s a risk that everyone would have to take.”
Cleary, as well as Panthers rugby league chief executive Matt Cameron and new general manager Shane Elford, met with Luai a fortnight ago to outline the club’s position.
Jarome Luai is weighing up his future.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald / Rhett Wyman
They tabled a two-year deal worth around $850,000 a year, a slight increase from what they originally told Luai they could afford two months ago.
“We’re very comfortable with where it’s at,” Cleary said.
“We’ve spoken recently and he’s exploring his options. He’s one of those players where it’s not a clear market because everyone is always looking for high-quality halves and he’s definitely one of those. It’s a matter of him now getting what’s out there, checking it out and coming back to us.
“I won’t be telling him to do anything. He knows what we think of him. I personally believe he belongs here. We’re good for him and he’s good for us. But there’s no doubt if the offers are where we are hearing … before today they’re all just maybes. Once they’re actually concrete he can understand more about what decision needs to be made.”
When pressed on Luai’s motivation in negotiations, Cleary was unsure if his five-eighth was driven to prove that he, like Nathan, could lead a team around the paddock as the chief shot-caller.
“Maybe,” Cleary responded. “I think that’s high performance. You have to take risks and you’re always trying to improve. I don’t know the answer to that. I know he has a very strong and influential role here, which he’s good at. We’d like him to continue.
“We’ve made it pretty clear what we can afford. There’s always things you can do and maybe you can’t do. I want to make it really clear that we want him to stay. And I’m pretty sure he wants to stay as well. But yeah, money talks, so we’ll see.”
Cameron hinted that Penrith’s original two-year deal wasn’t their final position.
“The length of the deal is a discussion with Jarome,” he said. “I wouldn’t get too hung up on the two-year part. That’s a discussion we’ll have with Jarome.”
