Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has hit back at “made up” rumours the club’s decision to release co-captain Jarome Luai from his contract with a year remaining, denying there’s a rift between the pair.

Luai has reportedly agreed to play for the Parramatta Eels for the 2027 season after the Tigers confirmed on Saturday that the star five-eighth had been released.

He will head to the PNG Chiefs as their marquee signing when they enter the NRL in 2028, but both Luai and Marshall were adamant at the time that he would remain at the Tigers in a bid to help them end their finals drought.

Instead, he was told he was free to leave, with the decision dominating the news cycle with cryptic social media posts analysed closely as people tried to figure out what had changed.

“A lot of things have been made up, insinuated, or guessed in terms of our relationship,” Marshall said.

“This process hasn’t just happened overnight. We’ve been talking for the last four or five weeks openly and honestly about where we’re at as a club, and also where we’re at in terms of Jarome and his role moving forward.

“He made the decision to go to PNG, which is all good, and we supported him through that. “Now we’ve made a decision based on what we think is best for the long-term future of our club.

“The best part about this whole thing is we’ve been open and transparent together on it and had open conversations as men.

“To Jarome’s credit, he accepted it really well and even said he wanted to leave a parting gift to some of the players, so even though he goes, it benefits other players here. That speaks volumes of Jarome.”

Marshall said the club can “never repay” Luai for what he’s done since he left Penrith to join them last season, and that the four-time premiership winner’s influence in the locker room will never be fully appreciated externally.

The coach confirmed Luai would remain the club’s five-eighth for the rest of the season and hit back at suggestions the pair had fallen out in recent weeks.

“The fact people can make up rumours that we’re having a relationship breakdown or a rift in our friendship is absolutely bullshit,” he declared.

“We’re close. We’ve been speaking about it the whole time. What baffles me is that off a hint of a few things or a situation, people think you should have a rift on it. It’s not right. You can’t make that stuff up.

“I don’t mean this to anyone personally in here, but in the media, some shit has been made up that he and I have a fractured relationship, which is far from the truth.

“I think what you guys need to do is have a look at why you’re making that up and not put that out there, so it creates more for us that’s not true.”

Marshall downplayed an Instagram comment from Luai’s father suggesting that his son and coach weren’t as close as they used to be.

He also explained what had changed in the weeks since Luai first signed with the Chiefs to now, with Marshall saying the club’s focus is on emerging halves like Javon Andrews and Latu Fainu.

“When he made the decision, we didn’t have time to process what had happened; it happened so fast,” he said.

“If you remember at the time, we actually supported him through it, stuck up for him, and we’ll continue to do so because we have a great relationship.

“But from a club perspective, when we started thinking about it and realising that we’ve got kids coming through in the same positions, if at a long-term view we hold a couple of those kids back another 12 months, we might lose those kids.

“So this decision was made in the best interest of the club. If anyone’s having a go at us for that, well, unlucky.

“No one has ever said (it was a) personality-based (issue) but you guys. So again, I’ll say it again: you can’t just make stuff up based on a hunch or because the situation looks like that. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to him and his family, and it’s not fair to us.”

Marshall said that the side hadn’t given up on making the finals for the first time since 2011 and was confident that Luai wouldn’t try to recruit players to join him at the Chiefs.

Marshall has learnt plenty from the messy situation that has seen them lose eight of their past 10 matches since Luai signed with PNG.

“As a coach, I probably need to learn how to manage those situations better and understand what the team needs to get us out of that. That’s something I’m constantly evolving and learning as not only a coach but as a man,” he said.

“The buck starts and stops at me as the coach. I said to the team it will become a distraction if we let it become a distraction, and I think I let the players down there where I probably let it become a distraction.

“Obviously, we’ve got injuries and whatnot, but we’ve gone a bit backwards from where we were, and I think that’s down to me.”