https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/jarome...n-cleary/d83204a6-d266-4694-ba3a-38b2aa839059
He's the young Panthers playmaker likened to Rabbitohs star Cody Walker and rated a better junior prospect than NSW Origin halfback Nathan Cleary.
Jarome Luai has been branded the future of Penrith by club icon Phil Gould, who is hoping that the 22-year-old can haul the Panthers and Cleary out of their NRL slump.
The Panthers are last in the NRL with a 2-8 record heading into Round 11, where Luai will start at five-eighth against Parramatta for suspended veteran James Maloney.
Luai was a halves partner for Cleary in juniors and showed his class in his starting debut last season, when he led a 36-4 win over the Warriors while Cleary and Maloney were on Origin duty.
"Jarome Luai is the future of the Panthers," Gould said on the
Six Tackles with Gus podcast, speaking with James Bracey.
He and Nathan played a lot of football together as youngsters. They’re great mates and I think whilst James Maloney has been wonderful for Panthers and wonderful for Nathan Cleary, this just might be a breath of fresh air in the team that they need at the moment.
"I can tell you, back at 16, 17 years of age when they were playing together, we actually rated Jarome better than Nathan at that time. Jerome [is] extremely fast, very skillful, great kicking game and great football instincts.
"He’s not a structured player, he plays more on instincts. He’s a little bit more like a Cody Walker than a James Maloney.
"And they (Cleary and Luai) combined extremely well – first and second receiver, either way, they had great football instincts. Tyrone May was another one who linked into that. They were a great threesome and Dylan Edwards probably made up the four as they were coming through the lower grades."
Gould said Luai had shown only glimpses of his capabilities so far this season, in an unfamiliar role.
Gould conceded that despite having a talented roster, which was tipped for premiership contention in pre-season, Penrith's finals hopes were likely gone. He said the team could at least
“No one’s enjoying what’s happening to them at the moment and how they’re playing their football and how they’re performing," he said.
“But they’re a great group of people and great coaches and great players. I think it just needs to be a mission here to put their best foot forward.
"I look at the season so far, 10 games, and I really can’t say at any time they’ve put their best foot forward. They’ve got to sort that out. Once they do that, once they put in a solid 80-minute performance and everyone plays to their potential, then all the other questions and queries go away.
“They’ve got the players and coaches to do it, they’ve just got to knuckle down and get it done.”
