{"id":391182,"date":"2024-05-06T05:27:33","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T05:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=391182"},"modified":"2024-05-06T06:04:32","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T06:04:32","slug":"clearys-blunt-response-to-2-5-million-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=391182","title":{"rendered":"Cleary's blunt response to $2.5 million question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ivan \ufeffCleary<\/a> has refused to answer the $2.5 million question about David Fifita<\/a>'s potential future with the Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reports emerged on Sunday afternoon that the Titans star was to begin negotiations with Penrith and was scheduled to meet with club officials and Ivan Cleary on Monday.\ufeff<\/p>\n

It has since emerged that \ufeffFifita has been tabled a three-year deal worth over $2.5 million by the club, reports 9News and The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> journalist Michael Chammas.<\/p>\n

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READ MORE:<\/strong> Latrell lesson Broncos must take in Reynolds absence<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The three-time premiership-winning coach \ufeffspoke with the media on Monday afternoon, stating that he would not be commenting on any recruitment speculation.<\/p>\n

"Respectfully, I'm not going to comment on recruitment today," Cleary told reporters.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt's obviously a very sensitive issue, \ufeffall recruitment. It affects a lot of people, clubs, players, agents, and families.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI think we've already filled our quota for recruitment stories this year so I'm not going to discuss it today.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

"I'm sorry if you came out here just for that [question] but I'm not talking about it today."<\/p>\n

\ufeffWith a stacked list of departures over the past four years – with Sunia Turuva<\/a>, James Fisher-Harris<\/a>, and Jarome Luai<\/a> all leaving the club at the end of the current season – it could be the beginning of the end for one of the greatest teams of the modern era.<\/p>\n

The Panthers have found themselves looking through the market for the first time in four years, with the club hoping to recruit depth and experience into their line-up.<\/p>\n

Cleary admitted Penrith got their recruitment balance "a little bit wrong" last season but hopes he can help "evolve" the team in the right direction for 2025.<\/p>\n

"It is different [going back to the market]," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's been probably four years \ufeffI reckon but still we are always looking for other players too. So it's not that different.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We are always looking to evolve, that's the challenge – especially when you're losing players. \ufeffIf you just stay the same, you're going to get passed.<\/p>\n

"There's always a danger if you do that too \ufeffmuch. You lose track of what you're good at. It's a bit of a balance… we got that a little bit wrong early last year," Cleary continued.<\/p>\n

"It's always fun as a coach \ufeffwith the group to work out how that looks. I'm looking forward to doing that as we go.<\/p>\n

"Our mandate at the club is \ufeffto build from within so we spend a lot of time, money and effort in that regard – and we still will.<\/p>\n

"But from time to time if you don't have that then \ufeffyou've got to look outside."<\/p>\n

\"Panthers<\/p>\n

Penrith will compete with some familiar faces on Friday night as they take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs<\/a>, who are captained by former Panther Stephen Crichton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cleary was asked if the departures of Crichton\ufeff, Viliame Kikau<\/a>, and Matt Burton<\/a> hurt less now that the Panthers have three premierships under their belt, to which he replied: "Probably.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt's [a feeling of] pride definitely but as I said, in my heart I would love all those boys to still be playing here, but we would have about three teams then so we can't do it.<\/p>\n

"A few years ago it probably hurt more but now I'm just feeling good for them.<\/p>\n

"The good thing is that everyone that has left played out their last year here and we've had some amazing experiences and memories."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ivan \ufeffCleary has refused to answer the $2.5 million question about David Fifita's potential future with the Panthers. Reports emerged on Sunday afternoon that the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=391182"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":391187,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391182\/revisions\/391187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/391184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=391182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=391182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=391182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}