Penrith’s NRL rivals have been forewarned by Jarome Luai that playing halfback during Nathan Cleary’s absence has given him more confidence and improved him as a player.
Ivan Cleary, the coach of Penrith, rested Luai and the other stars of his State of Origin team as Cleary recovered from a lengthy absence due to a hamstring injury. Last week, Cleary helped his team to an incredible victory over the Dolphins by golden points. But on Sunday, when the three-time defending premiers play St George Illawarra, Luai and Cleary will be back in the halves, with Luai playing his usual No. 6 position.
The 27-year-old has thrived at halfback for the Panthers while Cleary has been out and revelled in the added responsibility that comes with being the team’s chief playmaker.
The cunning No. 6 carried over his club-level confidence and form into the NSW State of Origin series, where he was instrumental in the Blues’ victory. In Cleary’s absence, Luai’s kicking game has improved significantly, and the Wests Tigers will be thrilled with what they see from the 27-year-old, who will wear the No. 7 jumper for Benji Marshall’s team in the upcoming campaign.
Luai haș forced more dropouts in the past four matches than he did in all of 2022 and 2023 combined, showing just how much his kicking game has improved in Cleary’s absence. And while Luai concedes that his role will once change again with Cleary back, the five-eighth says the growing confidence he’s playing with makes the Panthers an even more dangerous proposition.
“Our team does change a lot with (Nathan) in the side. He is our go-to guy,” Luai told AAP. “But the confidence that I’ve been able to get while he is out, I can definitely use that to support him. I’m just really confident about my footy at the moment and I don’t want that to change. Coming into the game I definitely want to be a weapon that can free up some space for Nath.”
Leave a Reply