The Panthers have announced six players will depart the club, headlined by skipper James Tamou.
Joining Tamou in moving on from Penrith is Jack Hetherington, Caleb Aekins, Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Pat Hollis and Brayden McGrady.
Tamou (Wests Tigers), Hetherington (Bulldogs) and Aekins (Raiders) have all found new homes for 2021, while Watene-Zelezniak, Hollis and McGrady have been informed that they won't be offered new contracts.
Panthers GM of Rugby League Matt Cameron thanked all six players for their contributions to the club.
"This has been an extraordinary season for Panthers and each one of these players contributed to that success," Cameron told penrithpanthers.com.au.
"From the leadership of James Tamou, to the on-field exploits of Jack, Caleb and Malakai, and the enthusiasm of Pat and Brayden at training, we are grateful for their contributions to our club.
"Regardless of whether they were in the team each week, they sacrificed their personal freedoms to live in our NRL bubble for the best part of six months.
"We thank them for their service to Panthers and wish them all the best with their future endeavours."
Add Kaide Ellis to St.George. Jed Cartwright to South’s. Possibly Naden not being re-signed , or him wishing to leave? If the stories are in any way correct? I’m thinking that they’ll offload Whare too.
With young Lindsay Smith to possibly come into first grade next season. Capewell may not be re-signed either.
That’s 11 players that would that have left just recently.
So, you’d think that they would be able to keep the majority of those that they wish to keep at the club. You see stories of a club having $700,000 extra to spend on new players. Just Tahmou alone had cost Penrith more than that per season. Whare another $400,000.
The Panthers would have a couple of million plus, to spend. To upgrade contracts, re-sign players & fill in the numbers for the required squad.