Star Penrith Panthers and New South Wales State of Origin five-eighth Jarome Luai failed to show up for training on Monday at the foot of the mountains amid the revelation he has requested time off from the club.
It was widely reported that Luai had signed an enormous five-year, six-million dollar deal with the Tigers over the weekend, with the five-eighth to make the shift to Concord from the start of the 2025 season.
He took to Instagram immediately after the report first broke suggesting a deal was yet to be done, but it seems all but assured that Luai will not be a Panther beyond the end of 2024.
The Panthers have publically stated they won't release Luai before the end of his contract, despite reports the Tigers were angling for just that.
Luai not arriving at training on Monday - and there being no guarantee he will train over the remainder of the week leading into Christmas - has kicked off speculation that he himself could now be angling for a release.
The nature of the reports however are mixed. News Corp are suggesting his failure to show up to training was actually approved leave by the club after he became 'stressed' in making the decision over his future.
The Sydney Morning Herald however are reporting that Luai's abscence from training was not approved at all and he simply failed to show up, instead having someone else ring the club to tell them he wasn't going to be at training on Monday.
The Panthers, nor Luai have made public comment on his failure to arrive at training, with the five-eighth having told his teammates and coach Ivan Cleary of his decision to exit the club on Saturday before leaving training on that day early as well.
Luai, who has attracted the ire of fans time and time again on social media for various posts, would be able to be worked in under the Tigers salary cap for the remainder of the 2024 contract period - which commenced on November 1 - if Penrith agreed to an early release.