Phil Gould says he doesn’t see “any reason whatsoever” why Jarome Luai, who just split with his management company, would want to depart the Panthers.
But Paul Gallen has questioned if the representative five-eighth could be motivated by steering a struggling club to success.
Fears of Luai fleeing the Panthers are heightened after Danny Weidler revealed in the Sun-Herald that Luai had lost a contract worth $100,000 following a break-up with management company SFX Sports Group.
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There were already concerns that Luai could become a free agent on November 1 in a pursuit to become a $1 million-a-season player — a pay slip he might not be able to secure at the Panthers because of the powerhouse club’s salary-cap squeeze.
Penrith has coughed up a long list of gun players amid its extraordinary NRL success in recent times, including Matt Burton, Apisai Koroisau and Viliame Kikau, while Stephen Crichton is among those set to leave at the end of this season.
Gould, who orchestrated Penrith’s era of domination as the club’s general manager for eight years from 2011, was adamant on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night that Luai would ink a new deal with the Panthers.
“I don’t think there’s any reason whatsoever why he would be looking to leave the Panthers. That’s where he’s grown up and that’s where he’s played, he’s playing with the best club in the league, the No.1 club in the country. Why would he want to move?” Gould said.
“I don’t see any reason why he would leave Penrith, I don’t think he’s thinking of leaving Penrith at all and I don’t know money is all that important to him, to be honest.”
Of the potential suitors for Luai’s signature, the Bulldogs loom as a feasible destination, partly because of the moves of Burton, Kikau and coach Cameron Ciraldo from Penrith to Canterbury.
Crichton will swap Panthers colours for the Bulldogs strip on a four-year deal at the completion of this season.
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Luai signing with the Bulldogs also fits with Gallen’s argument regarding trying to turn around an embattled club.
“He’s had success, he’s won two premierships in a row, he’s here this year, he’s there next year, as well, if they win three in a row that’s a hell of a lot of success he’s had,” Gallen said on 100% Footy.
“Now, does he then want to go and lead a team himself to success? That’s what I wonder.
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“He went away and led Samoa to a World Cup final. He did that well.
“I can’t say he’s in (Nathan) Cleary’s shadow, but when you think of Penrith you probably think of Cleary before Jarome Luai.
“I wonder whether he wants to be his own man and become his own leader and lead a team to success. I wonder that … I don’t know him as a person, I don’t know what his goals may be, but I can see from a halfback or a game-manager point of view … that if that was the reason I could see it.”
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Luai’s current Panthers contract expires at the end of 2024.
The Panthers and Broncos are placed first and second on the ladder respectively, with percentage giving Penrith an edge.
The Panthers will meet the Sharks in Penrith on Saturday night.
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