{"id":503967,"date":"2026-07-01T05:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/503967\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T05:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:26:11","slug":"nrl-2026-penrith-panthers-grant-moses-leota-permission-to-test-the-open-market-ceo-matt-cameron-confirms-reports-transfer-watch-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/503967\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Penrith Panthers grant Moses Leota permission to test the open market, CEO Matt Cameron confirms reports, transfer watch, nrl news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Penrith Panthers CEO Matt Cameron has confirmed that the club have granted four-time premiership winner Moses Leota permission to test the open market \u2014 and one rival is ready to pounce.<\/p>\n<p>The blessing from the club means Leota\u2019a management will be able to speak with rival teams months before November 1, when he was originally slated to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A key piece of the Panthers\u2019 dynasty, the front-rower has appeared in 216 matches for the club since his debut in 2016 and has played in eight international Tests for the New Zealand Kiwis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis cohort of players have earned the right to determine their futures and we\u2019re happy to work with them to ensure everyone gets the right outcome,\u201d Penrith Panthers CEO Matt Cameron told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailytelegraph.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/nrl-market-watch-panthers-grant-premiership-prop-moses-leota-permission-to-test-open-market\/news-story\/4008f19cfa5ee0ca87b94c1606edc5ad\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CODE Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoses\u2019 manager came to us and asked for permission to test his value on the open market. Given Moses\u2019 service and loyalty to the club, we were happy to accommodate his request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t necessarily mean he is leaving and we will keep the lines of communication open with him and his manager.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Eels have already been identified as a leading contender to sign Leota should he decide to leave Penrith, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/the-mole-exclusive-news-2026-moses-leota-contract-future-penrith-panthers-parramatta-eels-interest-gavin-orr-20260630-p60bh3.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">nine.com.au<\/a> reporting Parramatta has already contacted his management.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are keen to talk so we will sit down with them and see what they have to offer,\u201d Leota\u2019s manager, Gavin Orr, told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it is a strong offer we will seriously consider it. If not, he will stay where he is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoses loves it at Penrith, but he is 30 and will be 32 when he signs his next contract, so it will probably be his last contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just want to see what his value is and how he stands in the marketplace, and it was good of the Panthers to let him get in early and see where he is at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ivan&#8217;s take on Bizza after Blues axe | 03:00<\/p>\n<p>The decision to grant Leota permission to test his value on the open market comes as the club faces a looming salary-cap battle with several stars off-contract at the end of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n<p>This includes the likes of Blaize Talagi, Brian To\u2019o, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Mitch Kenny, Nathan Cleary and Paul Alamoti.<\/p>\n<p>While Leota\u2019s management will begin seeking offers from rivals on Tuesday, the Perth Bears and PNG Chiefs are expected to show keen interest as they continue building their foundation rosters.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite the reports, the veteran is happy at the foot of the mountains and his preference is to remain loyal to his current side.<\/p>\n<p>CHIEFS ON VERGE OF SIGNING YOUNG TALENT<\/p>\n<p>The PNG Chiefs are on the verge of securing one of the best young playmaker who has yet to play a single minute on NRL first-grade football.<\/p>\n<p>A two-time international for the Papua New Guinea Kumuls, Gairo Voro has exploded onto the rugby league scene over the past few seasons and is destined to play in the NRL.<\/p>\n<p>Previously catching the interest of the Perth Bears, foxsports.com.au understands that the Chiefs have tabled him a contract for the 2028 season when they will enter the NRL competition.<\/p>\n<p>However, nothing has been signed at the time of publication.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not if he agress to join the NRL\u2019s 19th expansion side, Voro remains on the lookout for a new deal for next season as his currently off-contract at the end of the 2026 season with the London Broncos.<\/p>\n<p>Likened to Jarome Luai due to his looks and playing ability in the halves, the young playmaker has been in tremendous form for the Broncos during their campaign this year.<\/p>\n<p>And he also scored seven tries in 19 QLD Cup appearances lasr season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGairo has serious talent, he can really play,\u201d Voro\u2019s current London Broncos head coach Jason Demetriou recently told News Corp. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the reasons I brought him over to England was to help his development because he has all the natural talent to make it in the NRL. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has already fitted in really well over here and I would love to see him playing for PNG in the NRL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGairo is precisely the type of kid that can benefit from a PNG team in the NRL.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penrith Panthers CEO Matt Cameron has confirmed that the club have granted four-time premiership winner Moses Leota permission&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-503967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}