{"id":474803,"date":"2026-02-12T09:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474803\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:41:10","slug":"panthers-star-open-to-rugby-switch-but-says-hes-very-happy-at-penrith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474803\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers star open to rugby switch but says he\u2019s \u2018very happy\u2019 at Penrith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI\u2019m not closing any doors. I\u2019m open to anything. I\u2019m also very happy with where I\u2019m at, I\u2019m very happy with rugby league \u2013 it\u2019s my passion \u2013 and I couldn\u2019t see anything changing anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to say something like, \u2018I\u2019m never going to do it\u2019, then you eventually do it. So much can change in the sporting world. It\u2019s hard for me to envisage not [playing for] Penrith. I absolutely love Penrith, it\u2019s home to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Star power: Cleary with Cameron Smith and Steve Smith on Wednesday.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/853c3e4ecd932bcc96fdaff5911987ecf6302582.jpeg\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Star power: Cleary with Cameron Smith and Steve Smith on Wednesday.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has spoken about wanting to lure Cleary to rugby, while Australian rugby legend Tim Horan suggested the halfback might want to \u201cspread his wings\u201d and sample the 15-man code.<\/p>\n<p>But the bigger threat to Penrith, who are keen to make Cleary a Panther for life, are NRL newcomers the PNG Chiefs, who can offer a tax-free deal.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers have always extended Cleary\u2019s contract before he became a free agent. Arguably the game\u2019s best player, Cleary is likely to command at least $1.5 million a season with his next deal.<\/p>\n<p>Complicating matters for the Panthers is the fact a host of other stars are also off contract at the end of 2027, including co-captain Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Brian To\u2019o, Moses Leota, Mitch Kenny and young playmaker Blaize Talagi.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nathan Cleary congratulates Brisbane\u2019s Reece Walsh after last year\u2019s preliminary final.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/e99749beddd03cc4a0293074f62142f38f4c86fcbfc2829a69a033a122afc612.jpeg\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Nathan Cleary congratulates Brisbane\u2019s Reece Walsh after last year\u2019s preliminary final.Credit: NRL<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he felt he had nothing left to achieve in the NRL, four-time premiership winner Cleary said: \u201cI feel like achievements are what other people see.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, I\u2019ll never reach my full potential in rugby league. That\u2019s the way I\u2019m wired. I always think I can get better, and I\u2019m glad I\u2019m like that. I\u2019ll never be like I\u2019ve completed everything, because rugby league isn\u2019t a game that can be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loading<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers led 14-0 in their preliminary final last season, only to lose to eventual winners Brisbane.<\/p>\n<p>They have enjoyed a trouble-free pre-season and Cleary is optimistic about 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a genuine belief we can do something special, but potential means nothing if you don\u2019t work hard and actually get the most out of that potential,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, I feel like I can get better at everything. The beauty of the game we play, you\u2019re not just an attacker, defender, or kicker, you have to do all those things every week. I can get better in all those areas. I enjoy that challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m not closing any doors. I\u2019m open to anything. I\u2019m also very happy with where I\u2019m at, I\u2019m&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-474803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}