Luke Lewis still unsure if he'll take back Penrith captaincy
A 90-MINUTE heart-to-heart with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has failed to convince dethroned skipper Luke Lewis he should reassume the captaincy.
A 90-MINUTE heart-to-heart with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has failed to convince dethroned skipper Luke Lewis he should reassume the role following the State of Origin series.
Lewis, likely to be in and out of the Panthers squad over the coming six weeks because of his NSW commitments, was relieved of captaincy duties last week as Cleary sought a permanent leader.
With Lewis "gutted" at the move, the Panthers had another crisis on their hands, with the future of Michael Jennings also far from resolved. Cleary said the plan was always for Lewis to retake the leadership reins from Kevin Kingston following Origin, but the 205-game veteran was non-committal on accepting the role again.
"I don't want to make any quick decisions," Lewis said yesterday.
"I love being the captain. I'm very honoured to have the captaincy of this great club, but I just want to see what's best for me and what's best for the team and see how we're travelling over the next 6-8 weeks and make my decision there."
Lewis said he resolved "a few things" in his meeting with Cleary.
"Ivan sat down and explained it all to me today and I can understand where he's coming from," Lewis said.
"He just wants some other guys to step up and take a leadership role if I have the opportunity to go away from the club and into that Origin camp."
Added Cleary: "My plans always have been and are that he'll take the captaincy back."
The tumultuous few weeks off the field have coincided with Penrith's best form on it. The week Jennings was dumped to the NSW Cup for supposed attitude issues, the Panthers beat St George Illawarra.
They were narrowly chased down by North Queensland the following week, but then on the same day news broke of Lewis's dumping, the Panthers upset premiers Manly.
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