Panthers general manager Phil Gould has formally requested the services of shamed former West Tiger Tim Simona to the NRL integrity unit.
After being indefinitely deregistered by the league in 2017 for breaching the rules of betting on NRL matches, Gould is looking at bringing Simona on board as the club's welfare officer.
“Regardless of any future opportunity to return to the NRL, Tim is doing his best to make up for his mistakes of the past,” Gould told the Daily Telegraph.
“He has been quite proactive.
“Tim approached us about allowing him to be involved in our community and schools programs.
“He has been doing community work of his own, but wants to do more. He wants to assist and believes others can learn from his story.”
Simona who played 79 NRL matches all at the Tigers, was placed on an 18-month good behaviour bond for his betting misconducts.
The 26-year old was also found guilty of selling signed jerseys for auction, and putting the proceeds towards gambling and drug purposes.
Following these acts, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said: “It is very hard to imagine that Tim Simona will be registered with the NRL at any time in the future."
And Gould has no current plans of resurrecting Simona's playing career.
“There is no thought at this stage of Tim joining Panthers as a player,” Gould said.
“But he lives in Western Sydney, he is a former local junior, and we run extensive community programs in our area.
“We sent him to get his Working With Children qualifications, which he achieved last week. We haven’t assigned him any work as yet.”
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