Jarome Luai has copped a heap of flack following the NRL Grand Final for an alleged kick to Isaiah Papali’i.
Officials had appeared to miss a moment where the five-eighth seemingly struck out at Parramatta Eels forward Isaiah Papali’i.
Luai acted as a dummy half as Papali’i and Eels teammate Will Penisini were lying on Brian To’o after tackling the winger.
The Penrith then appeared to kick out at Papali’i with a short right foot to the body, in a move that was slammed by fans on social media.
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However, a new angle of the footage reveals that Luai had barely made any contact with the Eels back-rower, essentially rendering any complaints invalid.
Parramatta star Ryan Matterson had also taken aim at his counterpart whilst complaining about a $4,000 fine that he copped for a crusher tackle on Dylan Edwards in the NRL Grand Final.
Matterson told reporters: “Considering Jarome Luai is kicking players and he didn't get cited. It makes you think 'Where is this game heading?'"
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Luai had responded to the comments with a cheeky dig on Instagram, sharing the comments and captioning the image with three crying emojis.
He also added the chorus of Kennyon Brown’s song ‘Cry 4 U’ as the background track.
Rightly so considering it now just seems like sour grapes from Matterson.
Penrith fans ensured Matterson and the Parramatta faithful knew they had made a mistake.
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One fan said: “I hope anyone crying about an alleged Luai kick feels like a clown right now.
“Especially after Papali’i literally said there was no kick.”
Another commented: “You can all apologise to Luai now.”
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Whilst a third took the opportunity to make a cheeky joke at Mitchell Moses’ expense.
They added: “Parra reaching like Moses at decoy runners.”
The NRL Premiers had been slammed in the days following the Grand Final win over their Western Sydney rivals.
Their celebrations had ruffled a few feathers with the likes of NRL 360 panellist Paul Kent taking aim at Jarome Luai in particular.
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The Penrith player had posted an image with teammate Jaeman Salmon with the caption: “My N****.”
Kent took incredible offence to the post.
He said: “It’s a well-known racial term which Penrith claim is a term of endearment, which is ridiculous.
“Honestly, at some point these blokes have got to be asked to act like men. They’re carrying on like 16-year-old schoolboys the way they’re carrying on with this victory.
He added: “(Luai) runs the risk, he’s a proud Samoan and he’s going to play for Samoa in the World Cup and he’s a big chance of missing games now because again he got carried away with his own greatness.”
Featured Image Credit: @toddyor73/Twitter. @angusbacon21/Twitter.Topics: Australia, Rugby League, NRL
