Penrith Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary believes Jarome Luai will be ready to play halfback if called upon by the New South Wales Blues in the opening game of the 2024 State of Origin series.
Luai has come into the mix for the Blues number seven jersey with several high-profile injuries.
Nathan Cleary, Mitchell Moses and Adam Reynolds are all out, while Nicho Hynes is battling with a calf problem which saw him leave the field during Saturday night's game between the Panthers and Sharks.
Luai dominated the big win for the Panthers, and coach Cleary revealed the five-eighth-turned-halfback has taken control of the team after a slow start to the season, with his kicking game as good as it has ever been.
"Yeah, he has [taken ownership of the team]. He probably started a little slow coming back from shoulder surgery which is understandable, but I think he has been progressively getting better," Cleary said.
"The last couple of weeks he has really stepped it up for us which, we needed him to.
"If, as we all think and hope he goes into Origin, he is certainly going in feeling pretty good about his form, particularly about his kicking as well which is an important factor in Origin having that left foot kick. I think it's a great option and I thought his kicking tonight was the best he has ever done."
Cleary stopped short of saying Luai should be picked at halfback, but suggested he would be ready if called upon.
"I don't know. I'm not sure what the deal is with other guys," Cleary said.
"I think so as long as you keep him to his strengths. The try he scored tonight was a good indication of that and he is defending well too. He is definitely more than ready which he would have been anyway, but it's nice to go in with good form."
Luai, who is due to become a full-time halfback next season when he switches to the Wests Tigers, may have answered plenty of questions with his leading performance against the Tigers, but there is little doubt things will go up a level if he is picked for the Origin side.
Captain Isaah Yeo said that while Luai plays a different style than Cleary, he did an excellent job playing on the back of a Panthers team that turned things around well after last week's surprise loss to the New Zealand Warriors.
"Obviously it's different to Nath with his footwork and stuff, but I feel like as long as we have our sets and rhythm, and then he sort of just plays off that and I thought he did that really well tonight.
"Particularly, it wasn't always perfect when we were attacking their line, but his ability to finish a set with a good kick or a grubber, his ability to use feet to get it in the in goal, I thought he was really good for us tonight.
"Obviously different in the way they play, but still the same system, so I think we did that really well."
