Penrith Panthers young gun forward Mavrik Geyer has reportedly decided to leave the club at the end of the 2025 season to join the Wests Tigers.
Geyer, who has played just 13 NRL games and is the son of rugby league legend Mark, has struggled to break through into Penrith’s best 17 during his time at the foot of the mountains.
Off-contract at the end of the season and with just two first-grade games this year, he has elected to take his talents to the Tigers on what is understood to be a one-year deal, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Geyer has been stuck behind a plethora of players at the Panthers, led by New South Wales Origin player Liam Martin, New Zealand international Scott Sorensen, and this year’s recruit, Isaiah Papali’i, who had joined the club from the Wests Tigers.
That has left Geyer scratching his way towards a bench spot at times, although he has been unable to hold onto it regularly despite injuries ahead of him at Penrith.
“We don’t ever want to lose a local junior, and Mav’s proven that he can play first grade and is a first-grade player,” Panthers general manager Shane Elford was quoted as saying, all but confirming his departure.
“It’s just unfortunate that we’ve had a really successful run, and there’s just players that have won multiple grand finals that are ahead of him at this point in time. Now he’s got an opportunity to go to another club and play first grade and help develop his career.
The 24-year-old is in search of more game time, and he may well find it at the Tigers, although will likely be behind Alex Seyfarth, who has had an excellent season, youngster Samuela Fainu who is now a walk-up starter in the second-row for the joint-venture club, and Englishman Kai Pearce-Paul, who joins in 2026 from the Newcastle Knights.
Benji Marshall, during his short time in charge of the Tigers, has not been backward in taking a selection risk, though, and could see the upside in handing Geyer game time next year.
He is set to link up with the Tigers at the start of pre-season training in November.