{"id":84893,"date":"2025-08-21T12:04:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/84893\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:04:20","slug":"150-luais-journey-from-young-star-to-rugby-league-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/84893\/","title":{"rendered":"150: Luai\u2019s journey from young star to rugby league icon"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend against the Cowboys, Jarome Luai brings up his 150th NRL appearance at Leichhardt Oval.<\/p>\n


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From humble beginnings, the star half has put together one of the more decorated NRL careers in recent memory.<\/p>\n

We relive some of the key moments from our co-captain\u2019s road to 150 NRL games.<\/p>\n

FROM MT DRUITT TO THE WORLD<\/p>\n

A St Marys Saints junior raised in Mt Druitt, Jarome Luai was a star coming through the Panthers junior reps system and was a part of the club\u2019s 2015 NYC U\/20\u2019s team that won the Grand Final.<\/p>\n


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That 2015 lineup also included the likes of James Fisher-Harris, Dylan Edwards, Moses Leota and Brent Naden.<\/p>\n

Luai made his NSW Cup debut in 2016 before transitioning into his first full season at that level in 2017, the same year he represented the Junior Kiwis.<\/p>\n

2017 also represented a huge milestone in Luai\u2019s career\u2026 before he\u2019d even made his NRL debut.<\/p>\n

At the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, Luai was selected as the only player in the Samoan squad to have not yet played NRL.<\/p>\n


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BREAKING THROUGH<\/p>\n

His NRL debut for the Panthers finally came in Round 10, 2018, playing 26 minutes of the second half in a 29-18 win over Newcastle.<\/p>\n

His breakout performance though didn\u2019t come until Round 17 against the Warriors, in an incredible performance that put the rugby league world on notice.<\/p>\n

Luai scored two tries that night, including a 25 metre solo classic in which he beat five New Zealand defenders on his way to the line.<\/p>\n


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Luai steps his way through the Warriors<\/p>\n

In 2019, Luai made 13 appearances for Penrith as he began to establish himself in the top grade, primarily from the interchange bench, with James Maloney taking up the starting five-eighth spot.<\/p>\n

He also continued to represent Samoa at Test level, including a 24-6 win over Papua New Guinea, in which he scored his first try for the island nation.<\/p>\n

A STAR ON THE RISE<\/p>\n

Luai\u2019s breakout NRL season came in 2020, playing 23 games and notching up 23 try assists as Penrith won their way through to the Grand Final.<\/p>\n

Penrith fell short in that decider, but 2021 was an even bigger season in the career of Luai.<\/p>\n

Called into the New South Wales squad for the State of Origin series, Luai made his debut in Game One, starring in a 50-6 victory at Townsville before backing it up in Game Two as the Blues sealed the series with a 26-0 win in Brisbane.<\/p>\n


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A knee injury ruled him out of the final game, but his impact across the opening two matches confirmed his standing as a genuine Origin playmaker.<\/p>\n

Back at club level, Luai played 25 matches for Penrith across the season and was central to their run to the Premiership.<\/p>\n

Partnering Nathan Cleary in the halves, he helped steer the Panthers to a 14-12 win over South Sydney in the Grand Final, delivering Penrith their first Premiership in 18 years.<\/p>\n


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In 2022, Luai crossed for seven tries, laid on 13 assists, and once again featured in all three Origin games, though NSW went down 2-1 in the series.<\/p>\n

Penrith, however, marched to back-to-back Premierships with a 28-12 Grand Final win over Parramatta, with Luai\u2019s creativity and energy a constant factor.<\/p>\n

MAKING HISTORY WITH SAMOA<\/p>\n

Following his Premiership triumphs, Luai took his game to the international stage in the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, held in 2022.<\/p>\n

He played every match of the tournament, finishing with two tries, nine try assists, three line-break assists, and 24 tackle-breaks as Samoa shocked the rugby league world by becoming the first Tier 2 nation to reach a World Cup Final.<\/p>\n


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Luai hopes Samoa seen as genuine contenders<\/p>\n

Despite falling 30-10 to Australia at Old Trafford, Luai\u2019s influence was immense.<\/p>\n

His leadership and attacking spark inspired Samoa to knockout wins over Tonga and England, and he was deservedly named in the Team of the Tournament.<\/p>\n

PART OF A DYNASTY<\/p>\n

By 2023, Luai was firmly established as one of the NRL\u2019s premier five-eighths and a cornerstone of Penrith\u2019s dynasty.<\/p>\n

Despite battling injuries late in the season, including a shoulder scare in Round 26, Luai returned in time to feature in the Grand Final.<\/p>\n

Penrith came from behind to defeat Brisbane 26-24 in one of the all-time great deciders at Accor Stadium, securing a historic third consecutive Premiership.<\/p>\n

The following year brought further success.<\/p>\n

Luai featured in 24 matches across the 2024 season, again proving a vital spark for Penrith\u2019s attack, and was part of the New South Wales side that claimed the State of Origin series 2-1.<\/p>\n

In the Game III decider at Suncorp Stadium, Luai made the line-break that broke the game open, passing to Bradman Best to help NSW on their way to the series win.<\/p>\n


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Luai sets up opening try<\/p>\n

October saw Penrith create further history with a fourth straight Premiership, defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final.<\/p>\n

JOINING THE JUNGLE<\/p>\n

In January 2024, Luai confirmed one of the biggest moves in recent NRL history, signing with Wests Tigers from the start of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n


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After farewelling Penrith in the best possible way with a fourth straight Premiership, Luai arrived at Concord determined to help drive the Tigers back to the top.<\/p>\n

Just weeks into his time at the club, he was named co-captain alongside close friend and premiership-winning teammate Api Koroisau.<\/p>\n

Luai made his Tigers debut in Round 1 of the 2025 season against Newcastle and has since embraced his role as a leader both on and off the field.<\/p>\n


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Already a four-time Premiership winner and State of Origin series victor, his arrival has signalled a new era for Wests Tigers, one built on belief and ambition to succeed.<\/p>\n

Having already helped Wests Tigers to a significantly improved season in 2025, Luai is not resting on his laurels and the 28-year-old says that despite being 150 games into his career and having achieved so much success already, \u201cI\u2019m just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend against the Cowboys, Jarome Luai brings up his 150th NRL appearance at Leichhardt Oval. …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-84893","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\/84893","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=84893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}