Penrith Panthers representative second-rower Liam Martin has told the Panthers they must agree to a contract next week or he will hit the open market on November 1.
Martin is one of a host of Panthers players off-contract at the end of 2027.
The club at the foot of the mountains started to make some progress on their off-contract list recently, agreeing to a new deal with Paul Alamoti, and being close to a new deal with Isaiah Papali'i.
But the three key players they wanted to lock up - Isaah Yeo, Nathan Cleary and Martin - are no closer to having their signatures on the contracts.
At the centre of the issue is Penrith's stretched salary cap, and while there has been some relief there with confirmation veteran winger Brian To'o will turn out for the PNG Chiefs in 2028, they may not be able to upgrade all three of Yeo, Cleary and Martin with other big contracts already out around the club.
Martin, who has been at the core of Penrith's dynasty and is a Clive Churchill Medalist, would get plenty of interest on the open market, including from the PNG Chiefs who are now in need of forwards after making an excellent start to their team in the backline.
Speaking to News Corp, his manager Allan Gainey revealed Martin has taken unders to stay at Penrith previously, but won't be this time.
“We will meet with Penrith next Tuesday. We'll see that they put forward. We know what figure hits the right mark," Gainey told the publication.
“If we can't find common ground, we won't get into negotiations, we will go to November 1 and see what happens.
“We don't want to get into protracted negotiations with the finals and important games coming up. We would rather put it aside.
“We'd like to think we can do a deal with Penrith but we also have to be realistic.
“Liam has taken a little ‘unders' in the past to stay and help the club but now's the time we need to capitalise on his value.”
That could well push Martin's value towards seven figures, and while he is currently believed to be on around $800,000 per year, it's a figure the Panthers may simply not be able to afford or justify as they begin life under Peter Wallace in the head coach's chair.
Martin last week told the Western Weekender that his preference is to remain at the foot of the mountains, but that he was unclear on the direction his next contract would take.
With so much uncertainty around the rest of Penrith's top heavy roster, it could well be that the club aren't able to commit to such a deal for Martin at this stage, and instead will need to take their chances on November 1.
