Penrith Panthers head coach has confirmed the club put in a counter offer to Brian To'o, but admitted the PNG Chiefs bid was "hard to match."
It was confirmed earlier this week that To'o has signed on the dotted line with the PNG Chiefs from the start of 2028 through to 2030, ending his time at the Penrith Panthers.
The story, which has been circulating since originally broken by Zero Tackle in May, didn't come as a great shock, with To'o always a chance of joining the PNG Chiefs once his best mate Jarome Luai was confirmed as the first Chief earlier this year.
To'o, one of the game's best wingers, will see a significant pay bump under the tax-free incentives in Port Moresby, with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary telling the media on Wednesday morning that a counter offer had been lodged to To'o, but that the Chiefs are hard to contend with.
"Of course we wanted him to stay, but I think everyone knows with the Chiefs it's hard to match [what they have to offer]," Cleary told the media.
"No. It's more that it's not your average club, but if players want to go there, then you can't compete with them."
Cleary admitted that, despite the club being a success, players leaving is the price of success.
"We'd like to think so. We run a pretty good program here and the boys all know that, but the evidence is there. Enough players have had to leave, or chosen to leave and that's the tax you have to pay for success," the coach said.
The Penrith boss, who himself moves into a back room role at the end of 2027 where he will be succeeded with the clipboard by Petert Wallace, said giving To'o permission to negotiate early was about clarity for the club ahead of the finals.
"I can't really remember why [we gave the window to negotiate], but we had enough evidence that it was a possibility, so we just wanted to get it done," Cleary said.
"Obviously this year [from November 1] we have a lot of guys off-contract, and the sooner we can sort that out before later in the season, the better, so I guess it was one of those instances.
"It's more just to get to the end point quicker. Everyone in every situation is different. It's not ideal and all that sort of stuff, but it's just life. We are in a parity league, and if you have enough success, then everyone's value goes up and I think it's fair for any player if they want to cash in on that when the opportunity comes."
The Panthers have a staggering number of players off-contract at the end of 2027, led by halfback Nathan Cleary.
It's understood talks are yet to begin with the Blues and Kangaroos star, but that the Panthers have commenced talks with Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Isaiah Papali'i and Paul Alamoti.
Cleary wouldn't confirm those rumours, but said plenty of work was happening to retain the club's off-contract talent pool, hinting that To'o leaving could help get a few contracts done by the finals.
"For sure. It's just a system we work in. 365 days of the year and we don't have any control over that. There has been a lot of work going on in the background, and we are very hopeful of having a few of them done. You definitely don't want to be going into the finals doing this sort of stuff," he said.
