Joel Luani

Joel Luani is a retired player most recently playing for Wests Tigers.

Joel Luani (born 16 February 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Wests Tigers of the National Rugby League. He primarily plays hooker and second-row.

Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Luani was educated at his father's alma mater Newington College (2008–2010) and he played in the rugby union 1st XV for three years. In his final year of school he was a member of Newington's GPS Championship-winning rugby side and played for the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team. He also played junior football for Five Dock before being signed by the Wests Tigers.

Luani played for the Tigers' NYC team in 2011 and 2012, playing second row in the 2012 premiership-winning team. Coach Todd Payten said, "Joel played in the back row, which was not his preferred position and not once did he complain. He just went out and did the job each week."

On 29 July 2013, Luani re-signed with the Tigers on a 2-year contract.

After being 18th man a number of times in the 2013 NRL season, Luani made his NRL debut for the Tigers against the Parramatta Eels in round 22. He played 3 games in a period when Robbie Farah was unavailable due to injury, scoring one try.