Nathan Cleary has spoken publicly for the first time about
Cleary and Luai have led the Penrith Panthers to three consecutive premierships, but
The five-eighth’s new deal is thought to be worth $6 million over five years – an offer that proved too good to refuse. Due to the salary cap squeeze that the they could only offer Luai about $1.7 million for two more years.
The 27-year-old has three young kids and couldn’t ignore the extra $4.3 million he could provide to his family. on Sunday, Cleary confirmed that Luai’s family played heavily on his decision.
“I’ve played alongside ‘Romy’ my whole Penrith career, since we were 15 years old, which makes it even tougher,” he said. “It’s sad. It’s also a business, and he needs to look after his beautiful young family. He had so many people in his ear asking him what he was going to do, so I didn’t want to be that guy asking.
He’s also at that stage of his career where he can make decisions for himself. We all found out at the same time that he was leaving. I never could have pictured Romy in another jersey. Now he’s secured his future, we can focus on this year and try to make it special … it’s my last ride with him.”
Cleary conceded that players leaving was part and parcel of the Panthers’ overwhelming success, due mostly to salary cap restrictions and players earning pay rises. The Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau, Stephen Crichton, Api Koroisau and Spencer Leniu in recent years.
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