Agreeing to a four-year contract with the Perth Bears at the end of last year, Liam Henry has opened up his impending move to the other side of the country as he prepares to be a centrepiece of the club\u2019s maiden season in 2027.<\/p>\n
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n One of only two members of the Bears\u2019 current roster to win an NRL premiership, Henry not only brings a ton of experience to their foundation squad, but the 24-year-old will be there during the prime stages of his rugby league career. <\/p>\n Speaking about the move, the forward said the change to be part of an expansion club and to be coached under Mal Meninga stood out as the main reasons behind his decision to leave his teammates and close friends at the Panthers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m focused on this year, but just the opportunity to start a club up is unreal,\u201d Henry told foxsports.com.au. <\/p>\n \u201cThen just for me and my development, I think it\u2019s my next progression and it\u2019s a wonderful opportunity to play under Mal Meninga.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a hard decision, I absolutely love it here, but I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n Henry and Scott Sorensen are the only Panthers players to join the Bears as it stands.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Not only will Henry be switching teams for the first time in his career, but the move to Western Australia will also be his first time ever living outside New South Wales<\/p>\n Born and raised in the Central West suburb of Blayney, he made the switch to the foot of the mountains before making the difficult decision. <\/p>\n He credited his support network for helping him with it, but he will have a hard time saying goodbye to his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were there with me and helped me make that decision and they\u2019re all in and absolutely have my back, whatever I do,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got an incredible support network and am very lucky that way.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely (it was hard to say goodbye to my teammates). These fellas are much more than my teammates. They\u2019re my brother and they\u2019re my family so it was very tough telling them.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I feel like we\u2019ve been in this situation before and I\u2019m just trying to make the most of this year and repay what they gave me, which is the opportunity to play NRL.\u201d<\/p>\n The move was one of the toughest decisions of his life.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Preparing to reunite with former assistant coach Ben Gardiner at the Bears, Henry\u2019s sole focus is to go out on top with the Panthers and attempt to win his second title after previously winning one in 2024.<\/p>\n As it stands, the Panthers are the favourites to win the competition and currently sit in first place on the ladder ahead of the New Zealand Warriors who they will face on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m all locked in on this year. 100 per cent (I want to go out on top),\u201d Henry continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the goal every year and to end my career at the Panthers that way would be extremely incredible and I\u2019ll do everything in my power to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n He is aiming to go out on top with the Panthers in 2026.Source: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n Named to play in his third match of the 2026 season on Sunday, the front-rower had a disrupted start to this year\u2019s campaign which included a minor hamstring setback.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough. Physically, it was alright, but mentally it was probably tough,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as the boys started playing you just wanted to be there. They\u2019ve done a terrific job to get where they\u2019re at and I\u2019m just trying to repay them.<\/p>\n \u201cI was due for a return that had a little tweak in my hammy, so that was a bit frustrating but everything happens for a reason and it\u2019s real good to be back now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thirty years since Penrith Panthers icon Mark Geyer signed with the Western Reds as their marquee signing, another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-705291","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\/705291","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=705291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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