{"id":668851,"date":"2026-05-13T19:45:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668851\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:45:37","slug":"nrl-2026-ivan-cleary-leaving-panthers-sparks-fears-of-roster-overhaul-players-off-contract-at-end-of-2027-nathan-cleary-contract-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668851\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Ivan Cleary leaving Panthers sparks fears of roster overhaul, players off contract at end of 2027, Nathan Cleary contract details"},"content":{"rendered":"

Panthers CEO Matt Cameron has confidently declared the club\u2019s decision to appoint Peter Wallace as head coach from 2028<\/a> will \u201cenhance\u201d its chances of keeping Nathan Cleary. <\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

The superstar halfback is one of 12 Panthers players currently inside the club\u2019s top 30 who will come off contract at the end of 2027, when current head coach Ivan Cleary leaves. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cleary\u2019s stunning announcement on Wednesday immediately sparked questions on what it means for the rest of the playing group, headlined by the high-profile list of names who can test the market at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

That also includes Nathan, co-captain Isaah Yeo, Brian To\u2019o, Liam Martin, Mitch Kenny and Blaize Talagi among others. <\/p>\n

While it would be easy to think that Ivan\u2019s looming departure could be just the start of a mass exodus, Cameron said the squad\u2019s reaction to the news of Wallace\u2019s appointment suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reaction from the playing group was clearly different when Iv told them that he was not continuing with his contract but the emotion in the room when the group was informed that Pete will be taking over, I think in many ways, will actually be a benefit to us as we move forward,\u201d he said at Wednesday\u2019s press conference.<\/p>\n

In fact, when pressed on whether Ivan\u2019s departure will impact the club\u2019s ability to keep Nathan, Cameron said he was \u201cconfident\u201d Wallace\u2019s promotion \u201cwill enhance\u201d it.<\/p>\n

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‘No interest’ Cleary clue on future | 00:57<\/p>\n

In saying that, Cameron was not naive to the threat rival clubs \u2014 and in particular the NRL\u2019s two incoming franchises \u2014 could pose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality of PNG, starting with their signings two weeks ago, has probably amplified not just us, but other players coming off contract in the NRL with Perth and all those other things combined,\u201d Cameron said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to keep every one of those players at this club,\u201d he later added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is our priority. We realise with new clubs coming into the league and advantages that they have over other clubs, there may be interest out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

While stressing that he and general manager of football Shane Elford are doing everything they can to keep the core of the playing group together, Cameron also made it clear they deserve the right to explore other options if they decide to.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Ivan\u2019s incredible Panthers legacy by the numbers<\/a><\/p>\n

Wallace on ‘batting after Bradman?’ | 00:44<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been in constant dialogue with players (off-contact at the end of 2027),\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in constant dialogue not just with them but (general manager of football) Shane Elford and their managers. <\/p>\n

\u201c… We feel this cohort has absolutely earned the right to travel their own path in some ways. It doesn\u2019t mean Shane and I will be sitting there twiddling our thumbs\u2026 we\u2019ve been meeting with these players, we\u2019ve been meeting with these managers as we\u2019ve gone forward. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actively trying to get deals done, but at the end of the day, if a player comes to us and says, \u2018I just really want to focus on the season at the moment\u2019, we\u2019re going to respect that.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because they got to November 1 doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re leaving club. I used AI last night because I can\u2019t add up all the numbers, and I think the number was 507 days until they come off contract. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in a rush. We\u2019re going to respect the players and their decisions that they want to make. But, as I said, our first intent is to get every player that we can get re-signed but second to that is we want to respect their decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleary confirms departure from Panthers | 02:40<\/p>\n

That extends to Nathan, who has been the face of the franchise since their first trip to the grand final under Ivan in 2020. <\/p>\n

Cleary was quoted earlier in the year telling reporters that he has never been off-contract, having previously agreed to extensions with the Panthers long before he had a chance to test himself on the open market.<\/p>\n

Cameron used Wednesday\u2019s press conference to clarify that does not mean the Penrith co-captain wants to explore his options beyond November 1. <\/p>\n

‘Better than being sacked!’ | 00:50<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what he said,\u201d explained Cameron. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point in time, using Nathan as an example clearly he wants to focus on Origin and from the club\u2019s point of view we\u2019re more than happy to respect that decision and it\u2019s the same with every other player who is off-contract at the moment and the conversations Shane is having with the managers at the moment. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf they want to get a deal done, we\u2019ll get a deal. If they want to focus on what\u2019s in front of them at the moment, we\u2019ll respect that decision, and if they want to see what opportunities are out there down the track, this cohort of players that we\u2019re talking about, absolutely have earned the right to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Panthers CEO Matt Cameron has confidently declared the club\u2019s decision to appoint Peter Wallace as head coach from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-668851","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\/668851","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=668851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}