Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall discusses decision to release Jarome Luai from his contract
Updated ,first published
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has said speculation that his relationship with captain Jarome Luai has soured is a “bullshit” and the decision to release the Tigers skipper from his contract a year early was taken “in the best interest of the club”.
Luai had a contract with the Tigers until the end of 2027, but agreed to part ways with the club at the end of the season after signing a contract with PNG Chiefs from 2028.
The club and Marshall initially backed Luai to continue leading the Tigers despite knowing he would leave at the end of 2027, but speaking about his departure for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, Marshall said they were rethinking how the PNG signing would impact long-term planning.
“Times [have] has changed. When you make the decision [to sign with PNG]We didn’t have time to process what happened,” Marshall said.
“It all happened so quickly and if you remember at the time, we actually stood up and supported him through that process. [for him] We will achieve this and we will continue to do this because we have a great relationship.
“But from a club perspective, when we started thinking about it and realized we had kids in the same positions. [and] From a long-term perspective, if we leave a few of these kids behind for another 12 months, we could lose those kids. “This decision was taken in the best interests of the club.”
Marshall also denied any suggestions that his relationship with Luai had become strained and denied any suggestion that there was a rift in their friendship.
“A lot of things have been made up or implied or predicted in terms of our relationship,” Marshall said.
“But I will say this, this process didn’t happen overnight. We’ve been talking openly and honestly over the last four or five weeks about where we are as a club and also where we are in terms of Jarome and his role going forward.
“He has now made the decision, of course, to move to PNG, which is a good thing, and we have supported him in doing so. We have now made a decision based on what we think is best for the long-term future of our club.”
“And the best part about this whole thing is that we’re being open and transparent about it together and having open conversations as men… But I will say that it’s absolutely ridiculous that people can make up rumors that a relationship is falling apart or that we’re having a rift in our friendship.”
“We’ve gotten close and we’ve been talking about it this whole time. And what surprises me is, because of a few things or a situation where people think you have to have a disagreement on this, it’s not true. You can’t make these things up. So, and I don’t mean this to anyone personally here, but what we’ve done in the media has created some disruption that me and them have a broken relationship, which is so far from the truth.”
“So I think what you need to do is look at why you made this up, not put it on us, so you create more of it that isn’t right for us.”
More to come
Billie Eder is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
