Andrew Johns outlines his next NRL signing targets for Papua New Guinea team

Jarome Luai’s signing as the face of the new Papua New Guinea franchise is a win for everyone involved: Jarome, the Chiefs, the PNG prime minister, rugby league and even the Wests Tigers.

Well done to everyone. It’s amazing what you can get done with a private jet and red carpet, but it’s also still a brave decision from Luai and his family.

I don’t think the Chiefs could have landed a better player to be coach Willie Peters’ No.7 and the marquee man he builds the club around from 2028.

Undoubtedly, Luai will attract other quality players, especially Polynesian players. He is a great leader and frontman for a club, and someone who will embrace the way rugby league is a religion in PNG.

Luai is phenomenal with young kids, and as a proud Samoan and Polynesian man, I think he’ll be adored by the PNG community and really help build a club culture that reflects the people and ideals of that nation.

Ironically, the way he’s helped lift the Tigers off the canvas after three straight wooden spoons has made him the best target for Peters and general manager Michael Chammas.

The Tigers still have Luai for the next 18 months, and as long as they continue to build on the improved standards he has helped implement, this is how the joint venture can still come out in front. Benji Marshall has 18 months to get the best out of Luai and plan how the club spends the more than $1 million it will have available under the salary cap after 2027.

A new broadcast deal, a likely increased salary cap and a host of big-name players coming off contract will make the Tigers a major player in the market. They are a club where players can see themselves improving and winning, and Luai has been instrumental in changing that perception.

He will be 31 years of age when he joins the Chiefs and have plenty of miles left in his legs. As their foundation halfback, Luai will play a big role in dictating how they play.

The next question is which of his mates will join him in PNG. Penrith’s Mitch Kenny and Liam Martin would both be great signings, and like Luai, would bring that famous Panthers winning culture. Kenny has improved out of sight during the past two years and is the effort player teammates love to play with.

The biggest chance is probably Luai’s best mate Brian To’o who, like Kenny and Martin, is off contract for 2028 and another all-effort, elite professional.

These three guys are great building blocks as far as culture goes. In terms of PNG’s recruitment priorities, I would start with playmakers and props and let the rest fall in around them.

If they can land Kenny, that would be a significant addition to their spine given PNG could sign him knowing exactly what they are getting.

A fullback and five-eighth to complement Luai, and two top-shelf front-rowers to play behind, would have the Chiefs in business. And then I hope that first squad in 2028 has a half a dozen or so PNG players.

In 10 years’ time, that number should be about 75 per cent home-grown, PNG talent.

The tax-free incentives are life-changing for Australian players and obviously played a part in Luai’s decision to jump on board. But I don’t think Luai plays this game for money. I think the chance to inspire a new generation of players is driving his eventual move, and PNG couldn’t have a better man to do it.

No rain is no good for Queensland

To the footy, the first women’s State Origin match kicks off on Thursday night in Newcastle with a crowd of about 20,000 expected. Thankfully we should see them on a dry track for once (it always seems to bucket down when the girls play up my way) and that spells trouble for Queensland.

This first Origin game is never easy given it comes after months off with the NRLW starting in July, and I think the Maroons will feel the impact of that most with their new halves Chantay Kiria-Ratu and Lauren Brown. Building combinations is critical at rep level. Ali Brigginshaw (retired) and Tarryn Aiken (ACL) are significant losses, but Queensland will always be a threat while the world’s best player, Tamika Upton, is there.

The Blues have Jesse Southwell and Jocelyn Kelleher partnering together for the first time as well, but they have played alongside each other before. I expect Jesse to have a big game in her Newcastle homecoming after making her move to NRLW powerhouse Brisbane.

With Millie Elliott back on deck after having a baby, and Jess Sergis and Isabelle Kelly leading all the strike power out wide, I think there will be points galore. And I think NSW have Queensland well and truly covered.

Joey’s tip: NSW by 14
First try-scorer: Jaime Chapman
Player of the match: Jesse Southwell

Win this stat and you’re 75% of the way there

In the NRL, ball control and completion rates have never been so important or influential in deciding contests, and two lessons from two great coaches ring loudest when I’m watching the game at the moment.

NFL coaching great Vince Lombardi used to say “fatigue makes cowards of us all”. Closer to home, Warren Ryan used to tell me “every set of six, if you can’t score, then we’re aiming to give the ball back as far away from your try line as possible”.

With more set restarts and the way the first two months of 2026 are being officiated, giving up cheap field position and yardage errors can kill off a contest quicker than before.

That extra defensive workload from a mistake is being magnified by the speed of the game. Extra six-agains mean you can’t slow the contest down at the ruck, and just anecdotally, I think we’re seeing more attacking kicks.

Fullbacks and wingers seem to find themselves under pressure under the high ball more often. It feels like we’re seeing 25 per cent of attacking kicks being spilled, and that is then adding greater defensive workloads.

The numbers that really stand out to me though are when you consider how the Roosters won the 2019 premiership – the last season played before six-agains were introduced. Trent Robinson’s side won the title that year despite having a better completion rate than their opposition in just six of 27 games.

The Roosters have always backed themselves to chance their arm, play expansively and defend their errors, but that approach has had to be tempered with the extra fatigue now in the game.

So far this season, the team that has finished with a better completion rate has won 48 of 64 games. That’s three out of every four matches played.

It is an incredibly fine balance between still challenging the defence – otherwise your attack offers next to nothing – and making sure you don’t fumble your way to constantly defending your own tryline.

We’ve seen countless examples of how teams can rattle up tries in rapid time: Dylan Edwards scored a hat-trick in eight minutes last weekend, while the Roosters helped themselves to four tries in nine minutes a day earlier against the Dragons.

The magic completion rate number has long been considered 80 per cent – and for anyone who thinks that should be easy, think about when the “fatigue alert” pops up in our Channel Nine coverage. And if you really want to understand the toll a big defensive load takes, go down to your local park and run up and back six times over a distance of 10 metres.

Add a burpee at the start of each shuttle run, then when you’ve done six, run 40 or 50 metres. You can take a 30-second rest after your kick chase, but keep going for five minutes.

At the end of that five minutes, think about trying to keep it up for another 75 minutes.

Fatigue has never been more influential in rugby league, and it’s making what sounds like an easy task – hanging onto the ball – the biggest deciding factor in a game.