Updated ,first published
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall says speculation that his relationship with captain Jarome Luai has broken down is “bulls–t” and the decision to release the Tigers captain from his contract a year early was made “in the best interest of the club”.
Luai was contracted with the Tigers until the end of 2027, but reached an agreement to part ways with the club at the end of the season after signing with the PNG Chiefs from 2028.
The club and Marshall initially backed Luai to continue to lead the Tigers despite knowing he would be leaving at the end of 2027, but speaking about his departure for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, Marshall said they had rethought how the PNG signing would affect long-term planning.
“Times [have] changed. When he made the decision [to sign with PNG], we didn’t have time to process what happened,” Marshall said.
“It happened so fast, and if you remember at the time, we actually supported him really through it and stuck up [for him] through it, and we’ll continue to do so because we have a great relationship.
“But from a club perspective, when we started thinking about it and realising that we’ve got kids coming through in the same positions, [and] that as a long-term view, if we hold a couple of those kids back another 12 months, we might lose those kids. So this decision was made in the best interest of the club.”
Marshall also shut down any suggestion his relationship with Luai had become strained, and said any suggestion there was a rift in their friendship was a lie.
“ A lot of things have been sort of made up and insinuated or guessed in terms of our relationship,” Marshall said.
“What I will say though is like this process hasn’t just happened overnight. We’ve been talking for the last four or five weeks, open and honestly about where we’re at as a club, and then also where we’re at in terms of Jarome and his role moving forward.
“Now, obviously, he made the decision to go PNG, which is all good, and we supported him through that. And then now we’ve made a decision based on what we think is best for our long-term future for our club.
“And the best part about all this whole thing is we’ve been open and transparent together on it, and had open conversations as men … What I will say though is that the fact that people can make up rumours that we’re having a relationship breakdown or a rift between our friendship is absolutely bulls–t.
“We’re close, and we’ve been speaking about it through the whole time. And what baffles me is that, off a hint of a few things or a situation where people think you should have a rift on it, it’s not right. You can’t make that stuff up. So, and I don’t mean this to anyone personally in here, but in the media, what we have done is made some s–t up that me and them have a fractured relationship, which is far from the truth.
“So, I think what you guys need to do is have a look at why you’re making that up, and not put that on us and put that out there, so it creates more for us that’s not true.”
More to come
Billie Eder is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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