Breaking: Jarome Luai to leave Wests Tigers at end of season

Sat 11 Jul 2026 at 1:09pm

Sat 11 Jul 2026 at 1:09pm

Wests Tigers have confirmed star five-eighth Jarome Luai will leave the club at the end of the season.

Luai signed with the Tigers from Penrith, where he won four premierships as a Panther, for the 2025 season.

He was contracted with the Tigers until 2027, but the two parties have agreed to part ways after the playmaker activated a release clause in his contract.

Luai will be part of the PNG Chiefs' inaugural season in the NRL in 2028, having signed as the expansion club's highest-profile recruit earlier this season.

"I'm grateful to everyone involved with the Club for everything over the last two seasons," Luai said.

"Shaun (Mielekamp, CEO), Benji (Marshall, head coach), the coaches, the staff and my brothers out on the field. We've laid some strong foundations together.

"I look forward to seeing this group continue to grow and bring success to the Wests Tigers.

"The focus now is on my game and helping this group finish the season strongly."

Luai has played 33 matches for the Tigers since making his club debut in round one last season.

Interest in Luai's immediate future grew in recent weeks with speculation the Samoa international and NSW Blues representative could end his stint with the Tigers early.

Luai skipped the post-match press conference last night with coach Benji Marshall, after the Tigers fell to the New Zealand Warriors at Campbelltown.

In Saturday's statement, Marshall said Luai's departure gives the club a chance to develop young talent.

"I want to thank Jarome for his maturity during these discussions and his team first mentality,"

Marshall said.

“We’ve got some great young halves here at the club and we need to provide them with the best chance to grow and develop as players, which means we need to give them opportunities to test themselves at NRL level.

“With Jarome leaving at the end of next season, it was going to prove a challenge for us to do that, and he didn’t want to stand in the way of young players getting their opportunity and the overall journey of this group.

“This agreement is testament to Jarome and his commitment to this group, that he’s willing to step aside to ensure our club is in the best position possible over the next few years.

“We want to wish Jarome and his family well with the next chapter of his career.”

After starting the season promisingly with five wins from their first seven matches, the Tigers have lost eight of their last 10.

The Tigers will finish this weekend three wins outside of the NRL top eight.

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