Injured Panthers star Jarome Luai twisted the knife in cheeky fashion after Penrith’s 32-6 demolition job at BlueBet Stadium in the first qualifying final.
Luai posted the result to his Instagram story with the scathing caption, “Up the Pahs”, a reference to the popular catchphrase that has swept the rugby league world since the resurgence of the Warriors, “Up the Wahs”.
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The phrase appears to be part of a bigger messaging strategy with Ivan Cleary’s group, with the Panthers social media team adopting the phrase as well.
The club was accused by some fans on social media of being “arrogant”, with fans siding with the feel-good story of the Warriors after years of pain and sacrifice for the greater good of the league.
“Who at the club thought this was funny,” asked one fan on social media.
“Penrith already get s*** for perceived arrogance, this is a ham-fisted attempt at leaning into that.
“Against any other club (it) might be fair play, but the Warriors did nothing to provoke this and the game owes them gratitude not (a) piss-take.”
It’s not Luai’s first time courting controversy on social media, with a post to his Instagram story after the Blues’ devastating game two loss to Queensland in this year’s State of Origin series sparking fury among fans.
The post on his Instagram stories showed him sitting against the Suncorp Stadium goalposts with a controversial caption.
“Chill,” Luai wrote in the early hours of Thursday morning. “All you idiots have work tomorrow morning,” along with seven crying laughing emojis.
At the bottom of the image Luai then wrote: “we go again,” alongside a samurai emoji.
Luai remains on the sidelines with a shoulder injury sustained late in the year against Parramatta, and will be hoping to be in the mix for selection in the preliminary final.
