Jarome Luai is expected to miss the biggest test of Wests Tigers’ 2025 NRL so far as Benji Marshall’s men hit the road to face the in-form Brisbane without their talismanic halfback.
Luai will be unavailable for the Tigers’ reunion with former coach Michael Maguire at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday after he was slugged with a grade-two careless high tackle charge.
The Samoa international caught Warriors winger Ed Kosi flush on the cheek as he made a tackle midway through Sunday’s clash at Campbelltown Stadium.
The Warriors won 26-24, to deny the Tigers (2-2) the chance to seal three straight wins for the first time since 2018.
If he enters an early guilty plea Luai will miss the Broncos clash and be back on deck for the following weekend’s trip to face Newcastle.
Should he challenge the charge, Luai would risk a two-game ban that would rub him out of both the Broncos and Knights games.
With Adam Douiehi a late scratching from Sunday’s loss to the Warriors, Luai’s absence will likely open the door for Latu Fainu to partner Lachlan Galvin in the halves.
Meanwhile, Tigers edge forward Alex Seyfarth was spared suspension for his careless high tackle on Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad insists he would never milk penalties after a high shot from Alex Seyfarth put the Warriors in position to snatch victory over Wests Tigers.
On a night when Tigers coach Benji Marshall claimed his side was hard done by the referees, one officiating call had the largest bearing on the game.
Tigers second-rower Seyfarth floored Nicoll-Klokstad while the Warriors were on the attack with the scores locked at 24-all in the final eight minutes.
Nicoll-Klokstad stayed down in a daze and was attended by a trainer, with replays showing contact between Seyfarth’s shoulder and the fullback’s chin.
“It was an accident,” Nicoll-Klokstad told AAP of Seyfarth’s hit.
“I went to brace for impact and he’s quite tall so I braced exactly where his shoulder was.”
Seyfarth went on report and the Warriors received a penalty, putting halfback Luke Metcalf in position to slot a game-winning field goal from 40 metres out.
The Campbelltown crowd booed Nicoll-Klokstad when he carried the ball thereafter, apparently accusing him of playing for the game-defining penalty.
“I didn’t even hear them,” Nicoll-Klokstad said after the Warriors’ 26-24 win.
“You don’t want to be diving for a penalty. That’s in the concept of our game, you don’t want to be doing stuff like that.
“You don’t want to be taking dives.”
Nicoll-Klokstad pointed out that the referees had given the Tigers a warning that similar shots would be penalised.
Tigers recruit Jarome Luai had gone on report for make shoulder contact with the head of Warriors winger Ed Kosi earlier in the night.
“Edward Kosi got hit pretty much exactly the same. When it’s obvious, it’s a penalty,” Nicoll-Klokstad said.
“If it’s illegal, it’s illegal.”
Luai’s shot left Kosi in need of a head injury assessment, but Warriors coach Andrew Webster would not be drawn on whether he thought the Tigers co-captain should have been sin-binned.
“When I watched it live, Ed’s head jolted and I saw obviously that Ed needed to come from the field,” Webster said.
“And that’s the frustrating bit, I’m not critical of Jarome, things happen in football.
“But I’m more critical of the situation where you keep losing players … and they keep their whole formation.”
The Warriors enter their round-five bye on a three-game winning streak, a welcome turnaround after being thoroughly outplayed by Canberra in the first-round clash in Las Vegas.
Nicoll-Klokstad will use the week off to get away with his young family.
“It’s very encouraging, it’s good to be able to move into the bye week with a win,” he said.
“We didn’t look like us at all in Vegas. It’s been exciting to see that when we do get our game on, we win.”
Tom Trbojevic. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Manly will be without Tom Trbojevic for more than a month after scans showed the club’s star fullback suffered minor damage to his medial ligaments in his left knee.
In his first game back from hamstring tightness, Trbojevic limped out of Sunday’s 26-12 win over Parramatta with a knee issue.
Already wearing strapping on his left knee after a collision in training on Saturday, Trbojevic battled for around 15 minutes before failing to return after halftime.
Replays appeared to show the fullback’s leg become trapped under a tackle in the first half, before he sought assistance from trainers soon afterwards.
He then spent an entire set having strapping applied to his right knee, before struggling with any changes of direction and not returning after the break.
Daly Cherry-Evans. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The 28-year-old left Brookvale in a knee brace after fulltime and received the verdict on scans on Monday.
Trbojevic has been ruled out for a month which denies the Sea Eagles fullback a chance to impress new NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley.
Lehi Hopoate’s emergence as a bona fide fullback means Manly can still pose a legitimate threat without their regular No.1.
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles has shut down any suggestion the Eels could release Dylan Brown early, insistent it has not been discussed by the club.
The Eels slumped to a 0-4 record for only the third time in the NRL era on Sunday, after barely firing a shot in their 26-12 loss to Manly.
Their on-field woes have summed up a difficult start to life under Ryles, with the Eels having finished last on both other occasions they have been 0-4 this century.
That in itself has been overshadowed by Brown’s impending exit, after he agreed a $13 million deal to join Newcastle for 10 years next season.
The five-eighth had one moment of real threat on Sunday, but has otherwise struggled to make a match-defining impact without Mitch Moses next to him.
The Eels’ start even prompted club great Nathan Hindmarsh to question last week if Parramatta should release Brown early, claiming he was offering little for the club.
In turn, that would potentially allow Parramatta to move pieces of the salary cap around and allow for greater spending power in their rebuild.
But Ryles said that was not a consideration for the Eels.
“That has not been discussed for a second at our club,” he said.
Dylan Brown. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
“I’ll let you know if it ever gets discussed. Dylan plays for Parramatta until the end of the year. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.
“Dylan is contracted until the end of the year as our five-eighth, and at this stage that hasn’t changed,” Ryles answered.
“That’s the reason.”
Newcastle CEO Phillip Gardner has also previously said Newcastle could not accommodate Brown any earlier, such is the tight nature of their cap.
Parramatta had always felt this year could be a tough initiation under Ryles, who has completely overhauled the club’s offensive and defensive systems.
Their roster is also at an awkward point, with several older off-contract players taking up salary-cap space in NSW Cup while youngsters are blooded in the NRL.
Second-rower Shaun Lane had warned a fortnight ago that it could take all year for the Eels to click, but insisted it would be worth staying the course in the long run.
Ryles also remains adamant they are on the right track.
“It’s not slower (than I expected), it’s not faster, it’s just the way it is,” Ryles said.
“We’re doing it for periods, but we just can’t do it for long enough.
“I’m frustrated, but I’m frustrated because I’ve seen how much work the players have done and I can see the little green shoots and that coming through.
“That’s the frustrating bit. They’re working hard, they’re a really good group of players in regards to their desire to get better and their work ethic.
“It’s small steps.”
with AAP
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