Luai ready to be bigger threat in Cleary reunion

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Luai ready to be ******* threat in Cleary reunion

Jarome Luai has declared his stint as halfback can make Penrith more lethal ahead of the finals by leveraging off his new-found confidence.

Luai will be back in the No.6 jersey at Penrith on Sunday against St George Illawarra, after filling in as halfback for the past two months when Nathan Cleary was injured.

Already set to make a shift to No.7 at Wests Tigers next year, Luai came into his own while filling in for Cleary at halfback with wins in his last four club matches.

Both his long and short kicking games came to the *****, forcing more dropouts in the past four matches than he did in all of 2022 and 2023 combined.

Luai conceded with Cleary back in the team following a hamstring injury, it was likely both his own game and Penrith’s ******* would change somewhat.

But the 27-year-old vowed not to go into his shell and would maintain his up-tempo style in ******* in the No.6 jersey on being reunited this week.

“Our team does change a lot with (Nathan) in the side. He is our go-to guy,” Luai told AAP.

“But the confidence that I’ve been able to get while he is out, I can definitely use that to support him.

“I’m just really confident about my footy at the moment and I don’t want that to change.

“Coming into the game I definitely want to be a ******* that can free up some space for Nath.”

Luai’s stint at halfback silenced any critics about his move to the Tigers and whether he is capable of running a team himself in the No.7 jersey.

But the Samoan international also predicted Cleary’s injury stint could make the three-time defending premiers more dangerous, with other players having to step up in his absence.

“I think everyone should have that mindset, to use their weapons to the best of their ability,” Luai said.

“It frees a lot of the other players up.

“If I can give my boys that confidence as well to be the same, it will be big for us leading into the finals.”

Cleary and Luai’s combination has again been a talking point this week, with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary labelling the next two months the “last ride” for the combination.

First teamed up in U16s for Penrith, the halves pairing can become the first since St George’s Brian Clay and Bob Bugden (1958-1961) to win four straight grand finals together.

Penrith’s coach also believes Luai’s stint at No.7 has strengthened Penrith’s *******, giving them more options for the back end of this season.

“We’ve been working on just evolving their combination for a couple of years. Jarome’s time playing No.7 will only help that,” Ivan Cleary said.

“Jarome has gone to new levels this year in Nat’s absence.

“It’s just evolving, trying to give the opposition some different looks, and give those two boys the opportunity to get into position where they are most dangerous.”

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