Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher is willing to see winger Josh Mansour leave the club if it means continued development for Forbes flyer Charlie Staines.
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Staines scored six tries in two NRL games in 2020, becoming something of a cult hero along the way, and the club is eager to see him kick-on next year.
And the former Group 11 premiership winner could find himself on the wing regularly as the Panthers have given Mansour, a former NSW and Australian representative, permission to speak to other clubs.
"When 'Sauce' [Mansour] came here he replaced somebody else, that's the nature of the beast," Fletcher told NRL.com.
"He has been great and the club has been very good to him too but we needed to invest in Charlie Staines who we view as the future going forward.
Fletcher, a country product from Coonamble, spoke about various topics to NRL.com and reiterated his club won't be letting Matt Burton depart a year early despite the St John's junior signing with the Canterbury Bulldogs for 2022.
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"Nathan Cleary will likely play State of Origin again and Jarome Luai could too so you need that back-up and Matt has been in our system for a while now and plays well with both halves," Fletcher said.
Burton may be leaving but Fletcher and the Panthers hope to agree new deals with a number of other rising stars shortly.
"You'd like to think they'll all be raring to go to play together again next year and see where their futures go after that," Fletcher said.
"That's the beauty of it, we've got a year to get ourselves right. We've got the nucleus of the side there now with the older guys who are 24-25."
Fletcher also stated he was unable to comment on Wellington junior Brent Naden, who has been provisionally suspended by the NRL after the Penrith centre returned a positive A-sample for "metabolites of cocaine" from a post-game test conducted by Sport Integrity Australia after the October 25 grand final.
Penrith have announced they will provide support to Naden and his family as they await the outcome of the process.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
