Source :- THE AGE NEWS
So Jarome Luai is the new ambassador for Pepsi in Papua New Guinea. Good on him. What year do the Chiefs enter the NRL again?
On Friday, the day before Luai’s Wests Tigers face the Cowboys in Townsville, we were given a reminder of the crazy money Luai stands to make in third-party deals at the NRL’s 19th franchise.
The optics stink.
Pepsi could and should have waited a couple of weeks to spruik their man. What was the harm in waiting until Luai had fulfilled his commitments to his current club?
The Tigers were happy to cut Luai loose 12 months early precisely because they worried about photos like this popping up before he officially became a Chiefs player at the end of 2027.
Luai sorted out a one-year stop-gap deal at Parramatta for the 2027 season. Imagine how the Eels feel now, knowing more and more PNG companies will seek to partner with their five-eighth as the excitement builds around the Chiefs’ entry to the competition in 2028.
But what can the NRL really do to stop Chiefs recruits being paraded by local companies while still playing for Australian-based clubs?
Clubs are already on edge about the Chiefs because of the tax incentives. Players coming off contract are quickly linked to the franchise and there is a sense of urgency to get an answer on their intentions because of the threat up north.
Luai will receive $1.2 million in tax-free wages each year, and stands to make as much as $3 million in third-party deals.
Under the rules, the Chiefs must remain at arm’s length when it comes to players brokering third-party deals.
“The moment the board allowed him to visit Papua New Guinea was the beginning of the end. He’s come back, it was a circus, it’s still a circus, and this is the disastrous finale.”
Ben Elias on Jarome Luai
To be fair, the Chiefs had nothing to do with Luai’s Pepsi deal. The Instagram photo of the player decked out in Pepsi colours was taken in the past month in Australia. Luai’s managers have made several hit-and-run trips to league-loving PNG and have no shortage of companies wanting to align themselves with the playmaker.
Which brings us back to the Tigers and their fans. They are entitled to curse the Chiefs, who essentially blew up their 2026 campaign the moment they tabled a monster deal to Luai.
The Tigers had won five of their opening seven games until that point. They lost 12 of their next 14.
Luai has been targeted by what feels like everyone in the game – often unfairly. He let his guard slip last week after the gritty win over the Sydney Roosters when he said, “Tell those guys to come and walk a day in my shoes and see if they can do it – see if they’re a better fit for it. It’s all outside noise.”
But the fact is that legitimate questions remain. Asked on Fox League about Chiefs signings promoting third-party deals while still playing at rival clubs, Cooper Cronk said: “The NRL needs to fix that up. That is not on. We’re expanding and getting extra teams in the competition. You cannot have a player currently contracted servicing an agreement that’s expected to happen in 12 months’ time. Not on.”
When Luai signed with the Chiefs, Tigers legend Benny Elias opined he should have been dropped immediately and the club’s younger playmakers given a run.
Asked on Friday about Luai’s Pepsi deal, Elias said: “I wish Jarome well, I really do. He’s doing his best for himself and his family.
“But he had a vision to turn us around and get us to the top of the ladder. Yet we’re still towards the bottom.
“The moment the board allowed him to visit Papua New Guinea was the beginning of the end. He’s come back, it was a circus, it’s still a circus, and this is the disastrous finale.”
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