Jarome Luai knows his place in the big, brutal world of NRL business

Updated July 16, 2026 — 1:45pm,first published July 16, 2026 — 6:51am

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In the capitalist world that is the NRL, in which players will soon become the biggest beneficiaries of a $5.3 billion broadcasting rights injection, Parramatta-bound Jarome Luai understands his place.

By 2028, Luai will have played for three of the four western Sydney clubs, and then begin collecting pay cheques from PNG, where his net and gross profit will be the same courtesy of the tax-free dollars available to anyone who joins the Chiefs.

Rugby league players have long been commodities to be traded among the clubs, and deserve the right to maximise their earnings in what compared to most professions are short careers.

Luai has benefited as much as anyone, becoming a big business in his own right during a career that will take him from Penrith to the Wests Tigers to the Eels and finally to PNG. It’s a journey that has allowed him to grow his own brand, to the point where he will reportedly receive $3 million in personal sponsorship for ambassadorial roles away from the football field.

But the harsh........

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