The Penrith Panthers are wasting no time in attempting to lock down both Nathan and Ivan Cleary, with enormous contract extensions on the table for both player and coach.
Nathan finished second in last year's Dally M medal, leading the Panthers to the NRL premiership and the New South Wales Blues to the State of Origin title from halfback.
Despite sitting out a chunk of the year with a shoulder injury, he was voted the second-best player in the game, only behind Tom Trbojevic, who put together a season for the ages.
The star halfback, who is a strong chance to upstage Daly Cherry-Evans for the Australian number seven jumper at the back end of the year when the Rugby League World Cup kicks off in England, is currently on a deal worth a rumoured $900,000 per season which expires at the end of 2024.
It means the Panthers still have approximately 18 months - until November 1, 2023 - to lock up Cleary before he would even be allowed to talk to other clubs.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald however, the club want to make the star halfback a Panther for life and are willing to pull out all the stops to do it.
The Penrith junior - who was the key man in a team mostly filled with fellow Penrith juniors last year - is reportedly being offered a deal of around $1.1 million per year on a "long-term contract".
The deal is said to be likely to keep him at the club until at least the end of 2027, which would mean the 24-year-old would be locked up at Penrith until he was almost 30 years of age.
It's understood Cleary could demand around $1.3 million per year on the open market - similar to Trbojevic - but is willing to take less to stay at his junior club.
The details around Ivan's likely contract extension are less clear, however, it would appear any such deal would also take him to the end of the 2027 season, with his current contract ending at the end of 2023.
It's understood that like Nathan's deal, Ivan would also be on seven figures or more should he sign the extension with Penrith.
Penrith chairman Brian Fletcher confirmed to the publication that they were in the process of negotiating with both father and son.
โWhy wouldnโt we want them both at the club long term?โ Fletcher told the Herald.
โThe board is unanimous in keeping them as a pair as long as we possibly can. They are a huge part of Panthers, and weโre doing what we can to make sure that continues. Thereโs not much more I can say.โ
