Gus Gould and Luke Lewis bury the hatchet

PENRITH general manager Phil Gould entered NSW Origin camp in Coogee last Thursday to hold peace talks with Panthers star Luke Lewis.

PENRITH general manager Phil Gould entered NSW Origin camp in Coogee last Thursday to hold peace talks with Panthers star Luke Lewis.

The clear-the-air meeting was the first time Gould had spoken to Lewis since Panthers coach Ivan Cleary controversially stripped him of the club captaincy 15 days ago.

When Cleary initially dropped the bombshell that hooker Kevin Kingston was taking over as Penrith skipper, Lewis was understandably furious at the decision.

While in the Blues camp before Gould's visit, the Panthers lock had told NSW teammates he was considering his future beyond this season at the club.

Lewis is a Blacktown City local junior, who won a premiership with the Panthers in 2003 and remains one of the Panthers' most popular players.

So Cleary's call to take the captaincy off him and axe great mate and Blues centre Michael Jennings to NSW Cup had Lewis stumped.

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Gould's visit was designed to take the heat out of the situation and ensure the Panthers lock was in a strong head space leading into the biggest game of the season on Wednesday night.

Asked about the meeting, Gould said: "The captaincy was not the point of the exercise. I hadn't spoken to Luke one-on-one for quite a while.

"I took him up and showed him where I used to live at Clovelly. We talked real estate, we talked about Panthers, we talked about Origin.

"Just wanted to make sure he was settled and mentally ready to play Wednesday.

"He is in great shape."

Panthers coach Cleary has continually pushed the line that Kingston has only been appointed as captain during the State of Origin period to cover for the loss of Lewis on representative duty. But reading between the lines, Lewis still took it as a shot at his leadership.

Lewis and Cleary had a 90-minute meeting at Panthers headquarters a fortnight ago but have hardly spoken a word since.

The Panthers have gone into a three-day camp in Kiama on the NSW south coast leading into tomorrow night's match against New Zealand at CUA Stadium.

Many players view it as an opportunity to get to better know Cleary, who keeps his cards very close to his chest.

When The Sunday Telegraph approached Lewis about his situation at the Panthers, the Blues utility declined to comment.

"The club's asked me to stick to talking about Origin while I'm in Origin camp so I've got to respect that," Lewis said.

But when asked about life growing up in Doonside and attending Plumpton High School, it was impossible for Lewis to mask his love of Penrith the suburb and the Panthers club.

The Panthers handed Lewis his first rugby league contract as a teenager under then coach Royce Simmons after the local junior had grown up idolising Brad Fittler.

He started training with the NRL side at 17 and was given a day job answering the phones at Penrith Leagues club with former teammate Danny Galea.

Panthers general manager Gould and Lewis also share a long history, which traces back to Origin.

Under Gould's coaching in 2004, Lewis won his first State of Origin series playing on the wing with Fittler playing at five-eighth.

Ironically, it was the last winning-series Lewis participated in with the Blues.

"All I ever want to do now before I retire, which is hopefully not for a long time yet, is to win another Origin series," Lewis said.

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