Fowler: Nathan Cleary delays call on Penrith future for six to eight weeks
fowler Nathan Cleary says Ivan Cleary’s planned exit from Penrith after 2027 will not change his own future. The Panthers halfback is not ready to decide for at least another six to eight weeks, even with State of Origin looming and his contract situation drawing attention across the NRL.
Nathan Cleary on Penrith
“It doesn’t change my position,” Cleary said when asked whether his father’s departure would affect where he plays beyond 2027. He added, “I’m still not ready to make that decision yet and that won’t change over the next six-to-eight-week period. It’s pretty hectic as it is.”
That leaves his future where it was before Ivan Cleary announced he would quit Penrith after 2027: undecided. Nathan Cleary is under contract beyond that point unless he chooses to leave, and he remains one of the biggest names in the game, with a four-time premiership winning career behind him and the open market likely to bring a huge salary if he ever tests it for the first time.
Peter Wallace and the Panthers
Cleary also pointed to Peter Wallace as a factor in Penrith’s next phase. “Everyone’s so happy for him to be the one stepping into the role,” he said of his father’s successor. Wallace has been on the coaching staff since 2023, and Cleary said that kind of clarity helps when a club is trying to keep players together.
“If that position was now vacant and no one knew who was going to be taking over, I think it makes it a lot harder (to convince players to stay),” he said. That matters because Isaah Yeo, Blaize Talagi, Mitch Kenny, Brian To’o and Liam Martin are among the Panthers who can negotiate with NRL rivals for the 2028 season from November.
Origin pressure and 2028
The timing also runs into State of Origin, where Cleary is the incumbent NSW No.7. Any decision on his own future sits beside a much bigger Penrith question: whether the club can keep the core intact once rival clubs are free to talk to its off-contract stars.
Jarome Luai is part of the wider picture too, with PNG Chiefs able to offer a tax-free windfall and a reunion from 2028 if Cleary ever looks elsewhere. For now, though, his message stayed fixed on the same point: Ivan Cleary’s exit after 2027 does not alter his own call, and that call is still at least six to eight weeks away.
