Another successful NRL partnership has come to an end with the Penrith Panthers’ success, and now Nathan Cleary has spoken out about the departure of longtime friend and halves partner Jarome Luai.
This year, the five-eighth finalised a five-year contract worth an estimated $6 million with the Wests Tigers, bringing an end to his time at the base of the mountains.
The team’s three consecutive premierships have been centred around Luai, who forged a deadly partnership with Cleary at the club and State of Origin levels.
However, the Samoan international decided to leave his hometown club because the money at Concord and the attraction of playing for Benji Marshall were too great to pass up.
After dominating every level of football since they first met as teenagers, Cleary opened up about Luai’s impending departure in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I’ve played alongside ‘Romy’ my whole Penrith career, since we were 15 years old, which makes it even tougher,” he stated.
It’s depressing. In addition, he has a business to run and must take care of his lovely little family. I didn’t want to be the guy asking him what to do because there were a lot of people in his ear already.
Additionally, he is in a position in his career where he can decide for himself. At the same time, we all learned that he was going to be leaving.
“I was never able to
The Panthers have paid a higher price than any other team in the modern era for their sustained success, as a long list of standout players have been forced to leave the team for better financial opportunities or due to salary cap restrictions.
Having played in at least one NRL championship, Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau, and Api Koroisau have all moved clubs, and superstar centre Stephen Crichton has also left to pursue a career as a fullback.
But Cleary is confident that Penrith’s current system will keep the team close to the top of the standings for many years to come, and he hopes to lead by example and put them on his back.
“It’s a fair squad we’ve lost over the years now,” he said.
