Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has given no firm details if his star five-eighth Jarome Luai will leave at the end of the season.

The club hosted the New Zealand Warriors on Friday but failed to make a mark on the Auckland juggernaut, going down 32-6 in front of its Campbelltown faithful.

Reports emerged on Thursday that the Tigers are allowing Luai to leave the club early if he can strike another deal for 2027 ahead of his arrival in Port Moresby for the PNG Chiefs' maiden season in 2028.

Speculation is mounting that the Parramatta Eels are interested in his services for 12 months, while the club currently undergoes a stopover deal with Jonah Pezet before he departs for Brisbane in 2027.

Marshall wasn't willing to comment any further on Luai's looming exit from Leichhardt, and said nothing had been finalised with the club.

“With those things, you can't control what comes out or what gets said,” Marshall said in his post-match press conference following the loss to the Warriors.

“I'm not going to talk about it. I will talk about the game that is what I'm here for. Anything else, we will talk about another day.”

When Marshall was asked to elaborate further on the cloudy future of his star half, he assured there's been no confirmation from the Tigers on his departure.
 
“When it comes to something being done, we will let you know. At the moment, nothing is finalised or done.”
 
The Tigers' 2026 finals hopes remain on life-support as they fight to stay in touch with the top eight, but have been cursed by injuries to star personnel throughout their campaign while also struggling with consistency on the playing field.
 
The club now sits in 12th place on the ladder, with seven wins and 10 losses, and has four points separating it from the top eight.
 
Marshall said the club "will keep fighting to the death" until the end of the season, despite dropping a crucial match against the high-flying Warriors in their fight for a place in September.
 

“The result was definitely disappointing,” he said.

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“We missed the start and the sin bin hurt us, but all the boys showed a bit of fight to get back to 14-6. There were some good efforts [in the second half] but at the same time, we are at the end of the season and need to get results.

“We aren't going to throw in the towel. We are going to have a couple of days off and we will go get away from footy then come back and have another crack at it.

“I have a group of guys here that ain't going to give up, so we will keep fighting to the death.”

Marshall and the Tigers turn their attention to travelling to Accor Stadium to face the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on July 18.