{"id":737035,"date":"2026-06-15T00:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737035\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T00:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:33:16","slug":"nrl-2026-luke-keary-and-jarome-luai-in-hilarious-interview-after-wests-tigers-win-criticism-png-chiefs-contract-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737035\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Luke Keary and Jarome Luai in hilarious interview after Wests Tigers win, criticism, PNG Chiefs contract, signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was dubbed a performance to silence his critics, but Wests Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai had Fox League\u2019s Luke Keary howling with laughter in a cheeky on-air exchange following Wests\u2019 come-from-behind victory over the Gold Coast<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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Just a week after Keary was critical of Luai\u2019s recent on-field performances, the Fox League panelist was forced to take his medicine when interviewing the Tigers captain following a hat-trick against the Titans. <\/p>\n

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\u201cJarome, it\u2019s Kez mate. Sorry about last week,\u201d Keary said while try to hold back laughter. \u201cHonestly mate\u2026 I\u2019ll keep saying it every week. What was the difference tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n

Luai took the question in good humour, and happily played along in the exchange. But he also took the opportunity to take full accountability for his recent performances \u2013 especially in light of the Tiger\u2019s woeful 68-0 loss to Penrith just a week earlier \u2013 saying Keary\u2019s take was valid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need it again,\u201d joked Luai in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou probably said it yourself bro. The criticism was warranted, those results were a reflection of leadership and I\u2019m a big part of that. I\u2019ve seen your little critique there and I just decided to put my hand up for the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luai makes statement as Tigers hit back | 02:31<\/p>\n

Luai sent Leichardt fans into a frenzy after the stunning 36-28 comeback win, sealing the victory with a solo try at the death before making a cheeky shush gesture to cameras in the wake of another week of unwanted headlines.<\/p>\n

In a separate exchange with guest host Bryan Fletcher, Luai joked that his breakthrough appearance on Sunday Night with Fletch was probably a good reflection of where his form has been at this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been on all year so it\u2019s probably a good sign to be on here talking to the boys,\u201d Luai smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took responsibility for the last couple of weeks. We were down some troops but so proud of the boys for the way they took accountability throughout the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luai has been a walking headline in recent months after being confirmed as the PNG Chief\u2019s first marquee signing. He will join the NRL\u2019s 19th franchise for their inaugural 2028 season, but not before another 18 months in Tigers colours.<\/p>\n

With questions over Luai\u2019s commitment hanging over his head in recent months, the 29-year-old orchestrated a masterful comeback on Sunday \u2013 with three tries helping the Tigers farewell their Leichhardt fortress ahead of works which will keep the ground off limits for games for the next 18 months.<\/p>\n

Tigers coach Benji Marshall was among the first to heap praise on Luai<\/a> in the wake of his performance, calling on the press to \u201cwrite how he won it for us today\u201d.<\/p>\n

TALKING POINTS: Huge Madge call that \u2018says it all\u2019 about dire Broncos plight; Panthers\u2019 shock title challenger<\/a><\/p>\n

Benji backs Luai amidst PNG criticism | 07:53<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to remember a lot has been made since his decision to go to PNG and that falling on him,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo write how he brought us back tonight. Because everyone wrote how that changed our season. Well write how he won it for us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside his trio of tries, Luai had five offloads and broke the line twice, with his running game a clear focus to rediscover his form.<\/p>\n

His efforts helped the Tigers to their second win in six games, and again within striking distance of the NRL\u2019s top eight at the mid-point of the season.<\/p>\n

Luai won\u2019t have long to relish in his own efforts, with less than a week to turn around for the Tiger\u2019s important clash against the Dolphins on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was dubbed a performance to silence his critics, but Wests Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai had Fox League\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-737035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}