They like to play this game at the foot of the mountains. <\/p>\n
An exercise, if you will, where they consider what happens if someone from marketing ever packs up their projector and powerpoint slides and walks out of the Panthers Academy. <\/p>\n
Kind of like an office version of NRL Fantasy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do it a lot with commercial staff because there\u2019s a lot of turnover,\u201d Penrith chief executive Matt Cameron tells this masthead. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe go, \u2018All right, well, if that person wasn\u2019t here next week, does another person automatically go in there, or is it an outside recruit?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the man who has presided over their run of four straight titles, the same principle applies to navigating the talent equaliser that is the NRL salary cap. <\/p>\n
FINDING A SOLUTION<\/p>\n
It was just a few weeks ago when the club was approached about releasing the versatile Trent Toelau from the final year of his deal to return to Melbourne. <\/p>\n
Toelau, who can fill in at halfback, five-eighth and hooker, had played 14 games since making his debut in 2024, and was considered a potential No.14 next year. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was pigeonholed as this player being able to solve these problems for us. Is there a logical replacement in the list, ready to go straight into that spot?\u201d Cameron said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t. So we were reluctant to let him go until we secured another solution to the problem from outside the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
That man was Warriors hooker Freddie Lussick, and the dominoes fell quickly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat changed our view after that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
IN THE ROOM<\/p>\n
When Cameron says \u201cour view\u201d, there are at least six people in the room, including head coach Ivan Cleary and his two assistant coaches, Peter Wallace and Ben Harden. <\/p>\n
Wallace, who played over 100 games for the Panthers, has been by Cleary\u2019s side for the past three years, while Harden steps up following the departure of Ben Gardiner to the Perth Bears.<\/p>\n
Harden has been involved in the Penrith system for over a decade, having first started as an assistant coach in their SG Ball (under-18s) side in 2013. <\/p>\n
Panthers DNA is seemingly a prerequisite to be in the room.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s pathways coach, Jono Rolfe, who is close to cracking 10 years since his days as coach at renowned league nursery Patrician Brothers Blacktown, is also present.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s general manager of football, Shane Elford, who, like Wallace, made his debut in the licorice allsorts in 1998, and went on to play 89 games for them over eight seasons. <\/p>\n
He was immediately appointed the club\u2019s welfare and education manager after retiring in 2010, and watched thousands of prospects come through the club\u2019s sharehouse. <\/p>\n
The final vote goes to club legend Greg Alexander, captain of their maiden premiership team and former Kangaroos and NSW Origin representative. <\/p>\n
However the three biggest voices belong to Cleary, Elford, and Cameron. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I explain it: Ivan\u2019s about winning this week, Shane\u2019s about winning this year, and my role is to win three years from now,\u201d Cameron says. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty good conversation, pretty robust. I\u2019m trying to find the middle ground to those three conversations, and a big part of it is providing scenarios to all the coaching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at us over the last couple of years, \u2018If you want to do this, we\u2019re going to lose Api (Koroisau) and (Viliame) Kikau\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019If you want this, we\u2019re going to lose (Matt) Burton and (Stephen) Crichton. If you want to do this, we\u2019re going to lose Jarome (Luai), and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
AND ANOTHER ONE<\/p>\n
The decision to release Jack Attard was the latest in a growing line of talented fullbacks to depart, from Liam Ison (Cronulla), Isaiah Iongi (Parramatta) and Daine Laurie (Canberra). <\/p>\n
It was just a bit over a month ago when the club was in talks to extend the prodigious 19-year-old fullback, who had represented the Australian Schoolboys in 2024. <\/p>\n
The Panthers had been before, with Liam Ison, who is now the back-up No.1 at Cronulla, and Isaiah Iongi, who just got a mammoth five-year deal for the same spot at Parramatta.<\/p>\n
Daine Laurie also just left for a shot in Canberra. <\/p>\n
And, like Attard, they all saw the giant-sized roadblock that was in front of them. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is, yeah, Dylan (Edwards) is contracted until 2028,\u201d Cameron said. <\/p>\n
Yet Penrith still baulked when Attard\u2019s manager raised the idea of a release to join the Wests Tigers, and hoped the youngster would continue his path up the ranks. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt he should play the 2026 season, and we still might have been in a position where we could do an extension for Jack,\u201d Cameron said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut the reality was, I think everyone can see, even if we wanted to extend him, our offer would\u2019ve been nowhere near what rival clubs have imposed. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo we spoke to the manager and we let him go under the condition that the contract that he was going onto was far superior than what we could offer in the 2026 season, which it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo reluctantly we let him go.\u201d<\/p>\n
PAY DAYS<\/p>\n