Negotiations are ongoing?
Sat Jul 17 2010
Many Penrith Panthers supporters are becoming increasingly worried by the clubs stars not being signed up beyond this season.
Michael Gordon, Frank Pritchard and Wade Graham among others are so far unsigned beyond this season, and Michael Jennings among others is not signed beyond next year, before other clubs can get a sniff.
We can report exclusively on the issue, having interviewed Mick Leary, the Panthers CEO. Normally a quiet, reserved and relaxed looking man, he didn't look the same on the day of the interview, and some of the questions we asked seemed to strike a nerve.
When asked why these players hadn't been re-signed, Leary gave us a worried look and reluctantly replied.
"I've lost my pen.
"People out there think it's as easy as just writing up a contract and getting a player to sign it. What they don't take into consideration is that sometimes things out of our control happen, like this."
Back in 2008, Luke Lewis, current NSW and Australian backrower, was signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Looking back, the loss of Lewis would have been an astronomical loss to the Panthers, but Leary just shrugs his shoulders.
"They were just too quick for us. What was I supposed to do about it?
"We only had 6 months of the season to get him to sign, but it wasn't long enough. Luckily we managed to get a contract written up at the last minute offering more money, and he back-flipped on Souths.
"Sure we had to pay more than we would have originally, but the jokes on them because we took him from under their noses!"
We ask why it is taking so long for Leary to extend the contract of Michael Jennings, one of Penrith's best players and crowd favourites. After all, we have been publishing articles for the last 10 months saying Jennings was going to re-sign 'soon', and it still hasn't happened.
At this question, Leary becomes angry.
"I thought I already told you!? I'VE LOST MY BLOODY PEN! GIVE ME A PEN AND MAYBE I CAN DO IT!".
At this point, we try to calm him down a bit, by congratulating him on the re-signing of Petero Civoniceva.
"Yes, we re-signed Petero Civoniceva. But it seems that isn't enough for some of our so-called Panther fans, is it?"
At this stage we are confused how Petero managed to be re-signed even though Leary had lost his pen.
"Isn't it obvious? Petero is the ultimate professional. He brought his own pen with him! And not only that, but he even wrote his own contract, which saved us the trouble. Why else do you think it only took us 5 months to re-sign him?"
When asked if this would affect the re-signing of other players, Leary becomes angry again.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? I just told you he wrote his own contract! The dollar amount he wrote on there is between him and the NRL, not me, or any fickle Panther supporters."
We mention the re-signing of Wade Graham, and Leary shakes his head.
"What a stupid question. We haven't even started negotiations with Wade because of course he doesn't have a future at this club. He's a five-eighth, and we already signed Travis Burns!
"What the hell am I going to do with two five-eighths? There is only one five-eighth on the field, you know. It's not like a winger or prop. Plus, even if I wanted him I've been too busy trying to find my pen anyway".
We follow up about the well publicised issue with the Panthers after Inglis, and Leary grins.
"You really believed that crap? Waiting for Inglis was just an excuse to get the so-called Panther fans and media off our back about the rest of our re-signings. Obviously it worked, because it bought us a bit of time and you believed it! By the way, can we keep that part off-the-record?"
Michael Gordon, the NRL's current leading point-scorer, is another off contract player. We ask Leary what happened with Gordon's offer being withdrawn, and again he grins.
"That was part of the scheme. In order to make it look like we were actually waiting for Inglis, we withdrew Gordon's offer.
"I guess that could have backfired on us with Gordon signing somewhere else, but it wouldn't have been a big deal. We have David Simmons, who is probably better anyway. I never watched him at the Sharks but according to some Sharks supporters I know, he is so good that they even gave him the nickname 'Super Simmo'. I have no idea why we were the only club chasing his signature."
To close, we asked Leary how long Panther supporters can expect to wait before their favourite players are re-signed. He frowns, shakes his head and reverts to his stock answer.
"Negotiations are ongoing".
