Only a day after Panthers teammates Liam Martin and James Fisher-Harris went face-to-face, Samoan gun Jarome Luai said there are “no friends on the field” ahead of the World Cup final.
Samoa secured a golden-point victory courtesy of a Stephen Crichton field goal, booking their spot at Old Trafford against the competition’s heavy favourites, the Kangaroos.
Luai, Crichton, Taylan May and Brian To’o will line-up against Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin in the Australian side at Old Trafford on Sunday November 20.
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While the group have managed to secure back to back premierships in the NRL for the Panthers, there will be no love lost when they clash in England.
“We are competitors through and through, it is going to be a great battle against one of my boys but out there, there are no friends on the field,” Luai said.
“There is only brothers and enemies, and I am always going to look at it the same way.”
Cleary and Luai were both products of the Penrith junior rugby league nursery, but played for rival clubs.
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The 25-year-old explained that while the gun playmaking duo have clashed in the past, nothing will compare to a World Cup final.
“We grew up in the same comp, in the younger ages I played for St Marys and he played for Brothers, but never on a really high scale like this,” Luai said.
“It has been a minute, back in our junior days, stakes are high this time round, and it is going to be a great game.”
Golden-point hero Stephen Crichton also expected the Panthers players to clash — and even picked who might go toe-to-toe.
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“100 per cent (Panthers players will clash), probably Marto and Romey going at it, so it should be good and excited for the challenge as well,” Crichton said.
While Samoa progressed through to the grand final, Luai had nothing but praise for his English opponents.
Matt Parish’s side were blasted out of the park in the first game of the World Cup, going down to the hosts 60-6.
Luai said the loss would be a “hard to swallow pill” for English fans but commended their fans for producing a great atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.
“That’s footy, there is a winner and a loser at the end of the day, props to the Englishmen, they have had a great tournament,” Luai said.
“It would be pretty hard to swallow that pill in their own backyard, but their fans are awesome, they created this great atmosphere and it was a great night to be a part of.”
