Jarome Luai tells Wests Tigers he'll be quitting club to join PNG Chiefs

Jarome Luai has told the Wests Tigers that he will quit the club to join the Papua New Guinea Chiefs in 2028, reports 9News' Danny Weidler.

Luai caused a media storm after being spotted at the weekend with Chiefs bosses Lorna McPherson and Michael Chammas at a rugby league game in Port Moresby.

He avoided the cameras and a pack of journalists awaiting his return to Sydney at the airport on Monday but didn't take long to make the seismic decision to rip up the last two years of his $1.2 million-a-season contract with the Tigers for an even juicier pay day at the Chiefs.

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The joint venture club will pay a hefty price for allowing the marquee star to insert clauses in his contract which effectively made him a free agent every year over the course of a five-year deal. He was able to negotiate with the Chiefs due to the player option in his contract, which he was yet to trigger for 2027 or 2028.

He will almost certainly trigger his 2027 option with the Tigers and stick with the club next season before joining the Chiefs as a foundation marquee.

Chammas, a former senior journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald was able to use the huge advantage at his disposal in assembling a roster to attract Luai, with the Chiefs the only club in the NRL that can offer a tax free income.

It effectively means Luai can sign with the Chiefs on $1.2 million-a-season - the same value as his Tigers deal - but bank the full amount. Due to Australia's income tax, Luai currently banks around $670k-a-season.

It would take an Australian NRL club to offer Luai almost $2.2 million-a-season to put the same amount of money in his bank account as a $1.2 million-a-season deal at the Chiefs.

"It's a huge signing for the PNG Chiefs," Weidler said on 9News as he broke the story on Tuesday.

"It's a massive coup for that club who are trying to make an immediate impact and what it means for Jarome is all of a sudden he's probably going to become the biggest earning rugby league player in history."

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Weidler reports that Luai is likely to sign a three-year deal. A contract that expires in 2030 would put the playmaker in PNG as a 31-year-old with the deal expiring just before he turns 34.

Weidler added that Luai will also be able to earn big money from third party deals in the league loving nation, which will also be tax free.

Neither the Chiefs or the Tigers have confirmed that Luai's fate beyond 2027 is sealed.

Earlier on Tuesday, the NRL's all-time leading tryscorer Alex Johnston effectively confirmed on social media that he would also be joining the Chiefs for their first season, making it a massive day for the club.

Luai's decision to leave the Tigers will come as a huge blow to the club which has become resurgent under the coaching of Benji Marshall and currently sits third on the ladder after eight rounds.

The star halfback was trumpeted as a game changer for the joint venture after joining from the Panthers and he has delivered, with his experience, class and swagger making a huge difference to a club that had languished at the bottom of the ladder for years before his arrival.

However, Luai has always said he was committed to sticking with the Tigers project for the long haul despite the emergence that his manager had inserted player options throughout the term of the deal.

That commitment will now be questioned, if not by his teammates, then by at least a portion of the fanbase which has been starved for success for so long and now faces the prospect of another rebuild.