Jarome Luai makes Tigers call just 48 hours after wild Origin return
Jarome Luai remains a strong chance of backing up just 48 hours after Wednesday's State of Origin match in Perth for the Wests Tigers against the Raiders on Friday night.
Luai was a late inclusion for the Blues after Mitchell Moses went down at training last week, with the four-time premiership winner heading to Leura last Thursday and then flying out with his NSW teammates to the other side of the country.
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He got through the 26-24 loss unscathed and avoided a ban for an alleged eye gouge and now wants to back up against Canberra as the Tigers look to stay in touch with the top eight.
'I'll tell you exactly the conversation,' Tigers coach Benji Marshall replied when asked if Luai would play after he set up a couple of tries but also had a few errors in the narrow NSW loss.
'I said 'how'd you pull up?' and he goes 'I'm good to go, coach, put me in'.
'You've got to trust your senior players, but at the same time we'll get a medical done on him tonight when he gets back, massage, and see how he pulls up tomorrow.
'We've got back-up options if he doesn't play and we've prepared all week like he's not going to play. If he does play, it's a bonus.
'He's pulled up pretty well, apparently. We'll touch base tonight, but at the moment he's playing.
'I thought he had a lot of good moments with their tries. In the second half I thought he set up a lot of good play on their left edge. I reckon if they went there another time they probably could've jagged it at the end.'
Marshall was worried that the decision would be taken out of his hands after Luai was placed on report for an alleged eye gouge on Reuben Cotter, but he escaped with a small fine after being hit with a grade 2 contrary conduct charge.
Watch video of the incident with Cotter below
'I was (worried that he'd be banned) but I don't have to worry anymore. He got a fine, so he'll be right to play,' the coach said.
'You just don't know, I don't think it was intentional what he did. Anyway, that's not up to me anymore, that's been dealt with, he got a fine, it is what it is and we move on.'
The Tigers have options if Luai is unable to play after a hectic few weeks where he had to deal with the pain of missing out on selection, only to be rushed in on short notice just hours after a brutal training session with the Tigers.
'I felt a bit sorry for him because we flogged him on Thursday because we had the bye and put a lot of fitness work into him,' Marshall said.
'He wanted some extra stuff to get fitter again and then he got called into camp. But professional athletes, it is what it is. You want to play at the highest level.
'He was hurting not to make Game 1, so to be back in there would've been a dream come true for him.'
If Luai is ruled out, Latu Fainu will likely come into the halves to partner Heath Mason, who was elevated to the top 30 squad and signed an extension on Wednesday.
Marshall has been thrilled with Mason's progression since replacing Lachlan Galvin but sees Fainu as the club's long-term option at halfback.
'Heath is such a pleasure to coach. He's a really good kid who comes from a good family and there are no dramas at all with the way that he does his work. He trains really hard and wants to learn,' he said.
'He played fullback a lot, so we've thrown him into a position that's probably unfamiliar to him. What I like about what he's done there is that he hasn't tried to overplay his hand or play like anyone else – he just uses his strengths.
'His story has been great and he deserves his upgrade and extension.
'Heath is a guy that everyone loves in the team and everything he's got has come from hard work. That's the type of player we want in our team and the type of player we want to build our team around.
'If you look at our roster, we've got young Latu Fainu, who is not far off from getting a real good opportunity in the halves and is probably our long-term option there.
'He just needs a little more match fitness coming back from his hamstring injury for him to play 80 minutes.'
The Tigers, who are sitting 14th on the ladder, face the second-placed Raiders at Campbelltown Stadium from 8pm on Friday night.
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