Footy superstar Jarome Luai says what every fan is thinking with a cryptic post about his teammate Lachlan Galvin’s stunning betrayal of the Tigers

Jarome Luai appears to have aimed a thinly veiled swipe at team-mate Lachlan Galvin after his bombshell announcement that he would be testing the open market later this year.

The promising 19-year-old sent shockwaves around the NRL last week after The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that he had turned his nose up at a $5.5million, six-year contract extension.

Galvin appears not interested in banking a mega-deal, but instead, it seems the reasoning behind his move, according to that outlet, is because he feels constrained by the club.

A promising young talent, Michael Chammas wrote in The Herald that Galvin had questioned whether Benji Marshall was the right coach to help him improve as a player.

But breaking his silence on the shock exit on Tuesday, Galvin explained that he made the call in order to ensure the club could continue to perform this season, without distractions.

‘I totally understand my decision will frustrate many Wests Tigers fans, but please know that it wasn’t an easy call to make,’ said Galvin, replaced by Adam Doueihi at five-eighth for Monday’s clash with Parramatta.

‘The biggest reason why I made this call now is so that the Wests Tigers have enough time to plan their roster without me in the future. That’s the absolute truth of it.

‘I could’ve mulled over this decision all season, but I didn’t think that was the right thing to do. I thought it would be best for everyone to make the call now rather than drag it out.’

News Corp has reported that several senior players, including Luai and the team’s captain Api Koroisau, pulled Benji Marshall aside for an emergency meeting on Monday and told him they did not want Galvin in the first-team squad.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that players within the squad had become annoyed by a ‘perceived sense of entitlement from Galvin’.

And interestingly, a newcomer to the side, Luai, appeared to take a swipe at the 19-year-old, who has two seasons left on his current deal, worth around $250,000-$350,000.

In a cryptic Instagram Story, Luai appeared to publish an anime cartoon, of a person appearing to turn his back on a crowd of people in the forefront of the image – who had raised their fists in the air to the individual.

The image was captioned ‘Team First,’ an apparent sledge at Galvin.

It also comes as Tigers prop Fonua Pole liked and then unliked an Instagram post from a Wests Tigers fan account that slammed the 19-year-old five-eighth. 

‘Unf***ingbelievable. We give you a shot at first grade and hand you the keys to the franchise with every tool possible around you to succeed cya mate,’ the post read.

‘Surely there’s no need to keep him around? Throw Doueihi or Bird at 6 until Latu returns if we’re serious about building and moving forward as a club.’

The Tigers’ $5.5m offer is understood to be the biggest deal tabled to a junior ever by the footy club.

‘Despite the club having the largest contract offer for a junior in the history of the club on the table, Lachlan and his management have decided his future lies elsewhere and were not willing to review the offer,’ the Tigers said in a statement.

‘Obviously, there will be a lot of speculation around this release, but we will make no further comment.’

Galvin, meanwhile, revealed that the move came at the right time for his development, with the exciting playmaker claiming that it was ‘in the best interests of his career’.

‘Any suggestion that I already have a deal done at another club for 2027 is simply not true,’ he said.

‘I just feel that as I move into an important period of my development as a half, that I continue to build my game at a different club.

‘Again, I know this might be hard for some people to understand, but I make this decision in the best interests of my career.’