Jarome Luai is one of the NRL’s biggest personalities, there’s no doubts about that.
The 29-year-old is animated on the field and his methods have yielded results, winning four premierships and two Origin series to go with leading Samoa to a World Cup final.
But away from the celebrations and flashy plays, there’s a evolving leader under the surface, with the gun playmaker’s move to the Tigers sparking a wave of changes.
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Here, in a wide-ranging interview with foxsports.com.au, Luai has opened up on why the ‘Batman’ moniker doesn’t fit anymore, becoming a leader in Tiger Town and his new-found attitude towards life and football.
Q: How would you sum up your first season at the Tigers?
A: First season… a lot of learnings, and personally I feel like a lot of growth away from the field and into being the leader that I want to become. Which is a big reason of why I’ve moved in the first place, to see how far I could take this all on and off the field. I’m enjoying the journey so far.
Q: A few years ago you called for your own press conference to announce the move. Why did you think that was important at the time?
A: Me and my manager had a real talk about it and sometimes the media and even clubs themselves like to take the narrative in their own hands and I think it was just a cool way to sort of show the people from my words directly. Why I wanted to move where I was going and just give them a bit more of an idea of who I am as a man and how I did it. It might have been a bit out there, I don’t know if we’ll see anyone do it like that again but I’m pretty happy with how we did it.
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Q: You’ve spoken about it previously and you touched on it, that you have a real desire to be a leader. How do you think you went leading the Tigers in 2025?
A: Like I said it was a massive learning, good and good. I think the biggest thing that I took away from the first year is that there’s no right or wrong way to be, it’s just the fact that everyone’s different and everyone wants to be treated differently and reacts to different things in different ways. So for me learning how to get the best out of each and every player in my team is a massive challenge that I’m looking forward to getting better at this year and as the years progress.
Q: You come across as a confident person, have you always been confident and very sure of yourself?
A: Yeah, I think I have. My parents will tell you I was always a loud kid, I was getting in trouble in primary school just for being loud and talking too much. Not for doing bad things and getting in fights, but just being real talkative and energetic. That’s just the confidence that I have, I know it gets taken the wrong way sometimes, people call it arrogance and all of that but I sort of view it as I know I’ve done the work behind the scenes. Then I can go out on the field, whether it’s in front of the cameras, whether it’s at training and be confident in the fact that I’ve done the work. Then I just have fun with it, so whatever I’m expressing out there that’s just me, that’s who I am and I am comfortable in my own skin.
Q: What does confidence look like to you on the field versus off it?
A: I think it’s pretty similar and you hear a lot of people talking about comparing Australian stars to American stars. I’ve started to hear lately like why aren’t the sports players in Australia comfortable enough to be like the American dudes. I just think it’s the Australian perception of what people should be like and be humble and all that sort of thing. But yeah, I just have fun with it bro on and off the field. Just be yourself and be comfortable in your own skin is the main message I get across to the younger boys.
Q: We saw it a little bit last year, you yourself have a strong social media presence, do you think that’s going to be something players adopt more in years to come? YouTube channels, bigger Instagram accounts?
A: I think we have to take advantage of that. Rugby league and sports takes up a massive chunk of our lives and you often hear about what a player is going to do after footy. I think while you’re playing you can have so much fun with personal branding and with where the world is going these days, if your social media is on point businesses and doors will open for you. A bit of advice I’m trying to learn it a lot better now, got a lot of good people around me. But build your brand and I’m pretty sure that’ll make your life after footy a lot smoother.
Q: In the past you likened your move to the Tigers from moving from Robin to Batman. How do you see those comments now?
A: Yeah it’s probably changed a bit to be honest and I think Batman is the wrong hero to put in a team sport environment. There’s no Batman in this sport, sort of look at it as Avengers if you were to put it in a superhero perspective. Everyone’s got their part to play, everyone’s got their role and no one’s bigger than each other. That’s how I look at it now, I’m my own superhero and for instance you know Tito’s (Sunia Turuva) his own super hero, he’s got his own superpowers, Api’s (Koroisau) got his own things he brings to the team. So it’s definitely changed over this last year. Everyone’s got their parts to play, everyone’s got their own powers.
Q: Is there one of the Avengers that you identify with most?
A: Thor maybe because of the long hair, I don’t have his rig though. I’m working on it.
Q: Thinking back to the person you were when you made your NRL debut, how do you think you’ve changed overall?
A: I’ve seen an interview after I think it was my second game and even the confident kid that I was, I was still a bit timid and shy in front of the cameras and things like that. I’ve grown in that sense, grown in the fact that I’m able to still be myself in front of the audience, in front of the world, in front of the lights and the cameras and things like that. And now I’ve got a family I’m a father, father of three and those guys have given me purpose and a new identity. I’ve definitely changed and grown hopefully into the role model that younger kids want to be like.
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Q: We will touch on family in a little but, but how do you want to be perceived by your teammates? At the end of the day, they go home and they’re talking about Jarome Luai, what do you want them to say?
A: A guy that gave his all, not only on game day. But gave his all to the team every day, competed in every drill and was just the guy that tried to get the best out of all his teammates and ultimately, a winner.
Q: And what you’ve touched on their speaks to legacy. Is that something you think about having already achieved so much in rugby league?
A: Yes and no. It’s not really attractive to me right now, like I don’t really think about it. As I go and as I do things and as I chase new goals and new heights, that’ll write itself when it’s ready to. But the most important thing for me is to stay present in the moment now. I love the emotion of winning after games and that’s what keeps me chasing to be better for my teammates. That’s me today, just trying to stay in the present moment, be the best version of myself every day.
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Q: I know this is hard because the rugby league season comes and goes so fast, but have you had any time to sort of sit and reflect on the achievements and the things you’ve done in rugby league?
A: No, no, not really. And I don’t want to have that time yet. I know I’ve still got a lot more to give. I’ve still got a lot more areas to improve in and I know I can become a better player, a better man and a better leader. So I think that if I have that mindset, it’s going to keep me in good stead. It’s not about what you’ve done, it’s not about what’s ahead, but it’s about what you’re doing right now and that’s what I want to pass on to my teammates.
Q: Away from football, how do you like to spend your time?
A: These days, I’ve got three kids. My son’s getting into footy now, so I’m just trying to pass on a lot of my knowledge. I don’t think it’s a good thing because I’m videotaping his footy matches, sitting him down, trying to be Benji in the tape room. I’ve got a lot of respect for fathers out there. My missus and my kids make a lot of sacrifices for me to do what I do. Any free time that I get, I give back to them.
Q: How important is family for you?
A: It’s probably number one for me and like I said before, my purpose and identity. They’ve given a new one to me. At the end of the day, we don’t really own anything, property, money and all that. Once we pass, that all passes on. But I really feel like your kids are yours, they’re your own and it’s not about what you leave for them, it’s what you leave in them that’s going to be around forever. So it’s a big goal of mine to make sure I instill traits like respect and discipline and just give them my time and stay present with my family.
Q: What’s one thing that people might not know about you?
A: That they might now know? I’m pretty out there hey…. That I’m a low key introvert. Api (Koroisau) actually gave me the definition of it, how that works. Because I’m actually good around people and when I’m around people. But if it was up to me, I’d rather just be at home. I wouldn’t go out of my way to be around people or do things with a big crowd. My ideal day is just to be at home doing nothing with the kids.
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Q: How would you describe your music taste and who is an artist or bands that you’ve been listening to?
A: That’s probably another thing that people don’t really know. I have a wide range of genres that I love. Country is heavy in the mix, old school, 60s, 70s, 80s, R&B and all that stuff. Sometimes I try to get a feel for the room as well. If there’s a lot of boys that gravitate towards a certain genre, I’ll chuck it on and maybe even pretend that I like it… I love all types of music as long as everyone’s enjoying it and it brings out good energy to the people around me.
Q: So you’re in control of the boom box?
A: Heavily, yeah. Sunia Turuva is a big influence in there as well, he’s a big energy dude as well. So yeah, no one’s going to argue with the song that he puts on.
Q: A little bit about Benji, you’ve spoken in the past about how important he’s been already in one season. How’s that relationship building?
A: It’s been awesome, I just think around the trust we have for each other and what we talk about, how we talk about things and go about things has been a massive eye-opener for me. Still to this day I am trying to get out of that… he was my hero back in the day and he was a big part of why I wanted to chase being an NRL player. So for me, it’s about sometimes putting that aside and just having a proper captain-coach relationship. So that’s been a test for myself, but I think we’ve hit a sweet spot.
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Q: It’s sort of like the old adage, you never want to meet your heroes. But in this case, you certainly have wanted to meet yours.
A: Definitely. To even get the chance to play with him a couple of years ago, share a room with him, pick his brain a bit, and then things come to fruition. He’s my NRL coach now, which is outrageous.
Q: I can’t even think how many pre-seasons you’ve been through now. Do they get easier?
A: I think it’s getting harder. I don’t know if it’s because of the age or like this Tigers pre-season has really ramped up and I love it because we mean business and we’ve got something to prove to our fans and to the people. We don’t want to be that underdog anymore. We want to be a real contender.
Q: Is there one player in pre-season that’s really impressed you thus far?
A: I’m going to give two big wraps to Bunty Afoa and Kai Pearce-Paul The standards they’ve come in with, the energy they’ve brought, obviously from different teams. You don’t really know what to expect from the new boys, but they’ve come in, heads down, ready to work and they’ve set a real good standard for our younger boys. So I’m excited to chuck this jersey on with those boys and see what we can muster up this season.