Penrith Panthers rugby league CEO Matt Cameron has confirmed the club haven't engaged with Jarome Luai over his social media hit back at Ivan Cleary's comments earlier this week.
Luai took to Instagram on Thursday, posting an animated image of himself and the caption "Know Your Worth."
The image was seemingly posted in response to comments made by Penrith coach Ivan Cleary earlier in the week suggesting Luai wasn't ready to be a chief playmaker at another club.
โIs he ready for that? That's a question mark I would think,โ Cleary told the media earlier this week.
โCan he do it? I'm sure he could do it. Has he done it? He hasn't really. In this team he has his role to play. That's a risk everyone would have to take.โ
Cleary did say however that Penrith want to retain Luai moving forward.
Speaking on the Instagram post, Penrith CEO Matt Cameron told The Daily Telegraph that the club hadn't discussed it with Luai, and also confirmed that the club had also met with Luai's new management about three weeks ago.
โI've seen it, we haven't engaged with Jarome about it,โ Cameron said.
โThe coach has been away, he was back the day before yesterday. I think the coach had been in touch with him. We had a meeting with him three weeks ago, and all parties were very transparent. Ivan's comments yesterday, they were things we have been talking about.
โThe post is what the post is โฆ I don't live in a social media world. We'll engage with Jarome and continue that conversation.โ
It is set to a backdrop of the Panthers reportedly being at least $150,000 per season less than what Luai could get on the open market with his contract at the foot of the mountains due to expire at the end of 2024.
Luai has been able to negotiate with and accept offers from rivals since November 1.
