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Penrith have received a huge boost with the Panthers set to father and son combo Ivan and Nathan Cleary have extended their deals until the end of 2027.
The Premiership winning duo have been in negotiations over new deals and both have been secured, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The Panthers have secured Nathan’s services on a deal worth $1.1m a season, however a ratchet clause will be inserted into the deal to ensure his salary goes up with the salary cap when the NRL finalises its 2023-2027 collective bargaining agreement later this year,” The SMH reported.
“On the open market Nathan would arguably fetch close to $1.3 million a season, but the star No.7 is willing to take less to play with his friends and under his father. The extension until 2027 means Nathan does not come off contract again until his 30s.”
The paper said Ivan’s new deal will see him become one of the highest-paid coaches in the competition, ” earning well in excess of $1m a season on the back of his premiership success”.
Anthony Milford is still no guarantee of being allowed to return to the NRL this season despite assault charges being dropped.
Milford pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of public nuisance and wilful damage but the three charges of assault occasioning bodily harm were dropped and he avoided conviction but was fined $2371 to cover car damage repairs and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.
The NRL is set to kick off its own investigation and the vision shown to the court of CCTV footage of the incident outside a nightspot at Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley at 2am on September 20 will be the key to Milford’s chances of being registered again.
In the vision he is shown scuffling with a group of people who are protecting his wife after he had grabbed her. Milford pushed a woman as she tried to restrain him and she fell backwards to the ground and hit her head on the concrete surface.
Brisbane Magistrates Court was told she “experienced severe pain to her neck and headaches, which were ongoing for several weeks”.
Milford also grabbed a nearby wheelie bin and threw it with some force towards the road and it collided with a car and smashed its window.
The former Broncos five-eighth had signed to play with South Sydney for 2022 but that deal was terminated early in the off-season when the NRL refused to register the deal.
Milford had been hoping to secure a deal with the Knights and there has also been plenty of speculation that his former coach Wayne Bennett will hand him a deal to restart his career at the Dolphins when the expansion club enters the league next year.
Bennett, who was Milford’s coach in Brisbane’s run to the 2015 grand final, was a character reference for the 27-year-old former Maroons representative in court.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, the NRL is still likely to take a dim view of Milford’s conduct despite the assault allegations being dropped. The NRL is unlikely to comment publicly on Milford’s potential return until a club signs him and tries to register a contract.
NSW coach Brad Fittler says Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton, Newcastle’s Bradman Best and Penrith star Stephen Crichton are the leading contenders to replace Latrell Mitchell in the State of Origin series opener.
Fittler is still holding out slim hope that Mitchell will be fit for the June 8 clash in Sydney but he is at long odds after being ruled out for eight weeks with a torn hamstring.
If he can’t beat the clock, Fittler wants a centre with experience on the left edge.
“Most centres these days play left or right, so they get in those habits,” Fittler said on Nine news.
“The ones at the moment who are playing on the left-hand side are Bradman Best, who’s been in the junior system a long time; Stephen Crichton, who can play left … and Matt Burton is another one, who is five-eighth at the moment for the Dogs but who played centre incredibly well last year for Penrith.
“Just knowing how much it meant to Latrell last year to get back in the team, and how well he performed, I’m holding out that eight weeks might turn into six weeks.”
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