The rumour mill has been in overdrive the past week about the future of Penrith young gun Stephen Crichton. There had been a suggestion Crichton attracted interest from the Sydney Roosters to replace Josh Morris at left centre in 2022, but the Tricolours have strongly denied any pursuit of Crichton.
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last week reported the handshake deal Crichton made with Ivan Cleary to honour a three-year $1.5 million deal which had been agreed upon three months ago.
It now looks like Crichton will honour one part of that deal: to remain at Penrith. But you can be guaranteed his new agent Sam Ayoub will be arguing that Crichton is worth far more than $500,000 a season when he begins negotiations this week. The change of heart hasn't gone down well at Penrith.