Jarome Luai footage exposes everything wrong with rugby league fandom

News.com.au

15-05-2025

COMMENT
In the clearest indication footy season is back in full swing, two footballers have been savagely rissoled in recent days because of telephone manner and a sandwich.
This week's fallout from Jarome Luai and Royce Hunt refusing a selfie has showcased everything crook with footy fandom and the perverse sense of entitlement we've developed.
Apparently because these blokes get paid a motza they should stop whatever they are doing on our command, even if they're eating or talking on the phone.
What's next?
Backlash because a footballer refuses a signature while performing CPR?
Outrage because a fan is snubbed standing outside a player's bedroom window holding a 'Lachie can I have your boots' placard?
Nobody's asking to light a candle of hope for the poor millionaires, but it's still enough to make a rat spew.
You can watch the awkward airport selfie interaction in the video above
For those who missed it, the footage in question, which you can watch above, features a fan approaching a streak of reclining Tigers in an airport lounge to request a selfie.
Filmed by Terrell May and uploaded to his social media, the punter is mutedly rebuffed by Luai because he's FaceTiming, then more mutedly by Hunt because he's got a mouthful of lunch.
It was uncomfortable to trigger awkward laughter across the entire terminal, but this isn't a scolding for the fan in question.
In fact, he was a cheery chap whose only two crimes were failing to read the room and forgetting to offer Hunt a napkin, and while certainly not welcomed with open arms, his harmless approach was acknowledged by the rest of the players who happily posed for snaps.
Nope, this is about the typical blowback that has resulted from this minor incident, and how it's only a matter of time before footballers respond to this confected knicker-knotting by hermetically sealing themselves off from the rest of the world.
One NRL fan wrote on X: 'I don't care what anyone says, that TikTok is once again a highlight of the culture at that club (Tigers). Royce could've acknowledged him at the least considering Terrell was the one who sent him there to begin with. The arrogance in that whole video is disturbing.'
A second fan added: 'Luai in the middle of a FaceTime call with his family, fair enough, but Royce Hunt can't even look at the guy or say a single word to him, just acts like he doesn't exist. Pretty ordinary way to treat your fans.'
A third wrote: 'Just watched it a few times. Wouldn't have the heart to do that. Even if I was burning on the inside, would still suck it up for a 2sec selfie. Would've made his day. Not sure if it's a club culture thing but bit of arrogance & immaturity on display from a couple of the lads.'
A fourth posted: 'No wonder the Tigers have won 4 spoons in a row - their culture is shot. They're nothing without their fans. And they treat their fans like rubbish.'
A footballer refusing an approach is nothing new, nor is one being non-responsive because their gob is gauzed-up with carbs and ranch sauce.
But sadly, it's also 'nothing new' to see disproportionate pearl clutching, especially that from the cultural dietitians on the internet who believe they hold a monopoly on what constitutes decorum.
For all we know, Hunt could've had spinach in his teeth, whereas Luai could've been chatting to his children, or more importantly, begging his dad to take down a post.
Either way, it doesn't matter.
Not only are the haters so acutely conditioned to detect fault that had Luai put down the phone to take the pic, they'd be slamming him for neglecting his kids, or worse, wasting data.
But moreover, this proves how footballers have become such public property that there's no lengths fans won't strive to score a selfie or a signature or even a lock of hair.
Regrettably, it's a challenge for the biggest boofheads to comprehend that professional footballers are human beings just like them, all who eat, breathe and do everything else they do, except not shower.
And yes, despite getting paid handsomely, players do occasionally grow tired of getting subpoenaed by strangers for pics and blamed for some geezer's flunked multi.
Reece Walsh is a red hot dish who craves the lens, but even he's gone to the lengths of banning selfies because of everyone's abject lack of table manners.
Latrell Mitchell is a man gives up his time to attend more junior carnivals than we have hot dinners, yet still a fan phoned talkback radio to complain when he didn't sign an autograph even despite pledging to do so at the end of the game he was watching.
Not even laid-back types like Shaun Johnson and Josh Morris are immune, with both copping the same treatment as Mitch Kenny who was deluged this week by some degenerate palooka blaming him for blowing his rent on a seven-leg Hail Mary.
Yes, the majority of us are good, god-fearing footy fans, but a rancid majority is tarring us all with the same brush.
They are opportunists demanding their 250 player cards be signed and faceless accounts issuing death threats and leaking sex tapes, and it's widening the gulf between players and the public.
So next time you expect a footballer to hang up on his wife simply because they're rich and they owe it to you, just remember:
While they may have signed a wealthy contract, it doesn't include an exit clause from jerk fans and online sanctimony.
- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He's never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.