Eels coach Jason Ryles says the club is in a position to go after elite talent, with Jarome Luai heavily linked with a move to Parramatta after his current club the Wests Tigers confirmed that the playmaker has been released from the final year of his deal.
Luai is now available for the 2027 season before he joins the PNG Chiefs the following year as the new franchise’s marquee man.
The Eels signed Jonah Pezet on a similar one-year deal this season before he heads to Brisbane in 2027, and Ryles has left the door wide open for something similar to happen with Luai.
“I will go back and talk to the people that I need to at the club, and we’ll make a decision going forward,” he said following the loss to the Roosters.
“For me, tonight’s about the game and not so much about recruitment. I’ll address that if and when we need to.”
The Eels are looking for the right player to partner Mitch Moses in the halves, with Luai combining well with him in the past when they’ve teamed up for NSW.
Ryles said “I reckon it might” when asked if the star duo would help their attack next year, with the Eels craving experience in a spine that is full of emerging talent.
Moses, Isaiah Iongi and Tallyn Da Silva are all signed long term, while Ryley Smith is also locked in as the club looks to convert their potential into sustained success.
“Like I said the other day, when elite players become available, we are always interested, and we are in a position to execute on stuff,” Ryles said.
“So whether it’s this one, or the next one, or whoever it is, we’ll work that out as we go. But we have a really clear strategy that we’re working towards.
“We’ve got a lot of young players there at the moment. Izzy’s (Iongi) signed for five years, Mitchell’s signed for five years, Tallyn’s signed for four years, we extended Ryley, we’ve extended a number of players, and we’re looking to extend more.
“It’s a long-term view. Anyone who is an elite player that becomes available that we think is going to help us going forward into the future, we are very interested in.”
Young playmaker Lorenzo Talataina is widely regarded as a guy the club can build around, but he’s still raw and needs more time in the lower grades to develop.
That’s why Luai would be such a valuable addition to the club to help nurture that talent, with Ryles pointing to Iongi’s development at Penrith where he was stuck in NSW Cup but got to learn off champion fullback Dylan Edwards.
“I’m not a fortune teller, I can’t tell the future,” the coach replied when asked if the young crop of halves would be ready to play NRL next year.
“But you look at all the young halves in the competition, they’re super talented, there’s a lot coming through, and we’re very lucky with a couple coming through as well. But they need reps, they need time.
“I use Izzy as the example. He played 60 Cup games behind one of the best systems in the whole competition and gave himself the best chance to be where he’s at the moment.
“But he’s nowhere near where he’s going to get to, and we’re in year two. So it just takes time.”
Originally published as ‘I can’t tell the future’: Jason Ryles leaves the door wide open for Jarome Luai to join the Eels where he can nurture the club’s young halves