‘I didn’t want to leave’: Tom Jenkins lifts the lid on massive gamble he took to give up everything to complete his Panthers journey.

Tom Jenkins was squeezed out of the Panthers system and then gave up everything in Newcastle to return home with his playing future completely up in the air.

Tom Jenkins may have only been out of the Penrith system for a year, but that was long enough for him to want to leave Newcastle and return home where he was promised nothing but has already delivered plenty as he looks to make up for lost time.

His journey back to the golden west of Sydney came with no fanfare but that all changed last week when he was a shock inclusion at fullback in the grand final rematch and set up three tries in the narrow loss to the Storm.

It capped off an incredible few months for Jenkins, who never wanted to leave Penrith but was squeezed out in 2023 knowing that his path to first grade was blocked by Brian To’o, Sunia Turuva and Taylan May.

Two of those guys are no longer at the club, with Paul Alamoti coming in last year and finishing the season as a grand final hero, although none of that made Jenkins jealous as he watched on in Newcastle.

Tom Jenkins feels back at home after leaving Newcastle to rejoin the Panthers. Picture: NRL Photos

“I didn’t necessarily want to leave, but in saying that, I probably needed to leave to go away and chase an opportunity to do it for my own development and my career,” he said, thanking coach Ivan Cleary for his advice at the time.

“I don’t regret it. I think it’s exactly what I needed to go away and experience different things at a different club.

“Ivan is always open. No matter how hard the conversation is, he’ll always have it with you directly, whether it’s what you want to hear or what you need to hear.

“That’s something that I admire and respect so much about him because he’s a coach who will tell you exactly what you need to know.

“He was open and honest, I respected that, and it was a bit of a sad thing because I didn’t want to leave and he knew that I didn’t want to leave.”

Jenkins had always done a fine job when he was needed, with the versatile outside back scoring five tries in five games in 2023 before he headed north on a two-year deal where he was meant to be the man to fill Dom Young’s massive boots.

But that never eventuated, with Jenkins limited to just five NRL appearances before he was dumped to reserve grade where he spent the final few months of the season.

Things never felt right at the Knights, with Jenkins conceding he never felt like himself at his new club and that he wanted to return to Sydney to be around his family.

Things never worked out for Jenkins in Newcastle. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“I think there was a lot of excitement going up to Newcastle, but in saying that, I wasn’t present when I moved up to Newcastle,” he said.

“I was probably promised a lot of things and I probably didn’t live up those expectations, so that was on me. That was purely me getting ahead of myself.

“You can say that I regret it, but everything happens for a reason and everything has a why.”

There was no bad blood as he and the club mutually agreed to go their separate ways, with Jenkins giving up a guaranteed contract for 2025 to return home where nothing was locked in.

He got a call from NSW Cup coach Ben Harden asking him to train with the Ron Massey team in November, and it wasn’t until he starred in a weakened Penrith squad in a trial game against Manly that things really ramped up.

“Nothing was guaranteed. Tom and I had a chat before Christmas,” Cleary said, with Jenkins spending his time working at his friend’s disability company as a social worker.

“He was really humble about it. He went back there and trained the house down and was probably the fittest guy, and then he played well.

“He got an opportunity in our trial against Manly when we’d all gone to Vegas. He played well there, was our best player in Cup in the first two rounds, and I know that he’s well and truly a capable NRL player, so it’s a good story.”

Jenkins looked comfortable in his first NRL start at fullback. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Jenkins thought he’d stay in NSW Cup given the four-time premiers have a stacked backline, but injuries to fullback Dylan Edwards and his logical replacement Daine Laurie opened the door for him to earn a shock recall in Melbourne.

He’d only spent a little bit of time at fullback in round 1 after John Fonua went off hurt in reserve grade, with Jenkins finding out on his 24th birthday that he’d be going from tiny Parker Street Reserve to the bright lights of AAMI Park.

It was vindication for a young man who gambled everything to come back to Sydney, with Jenkins glad the Panthers took a chance on him given it’s the one place he’s always felt at home.

“It wasn’t a sense that it had to be Penrith, but I wanted it to be Penrith,” he said, with Jenkins keeping his spot in the 17 for this week’s clash with Souths.

“I know how they roll and how they do things, and a lot of my mates are here. I have an apartment up the road, so that’s convenient as well.

“When I made the decision to leave, I didn’t know what was next. Penrith’s a hard system to crack and a hard squad to get into, so it wasn’t something that I knew that I was going to come back to.

“It was something I wanted to come back to and was striving for. I could say that I’m lucky that I got back here, but I worked hard in the pre-season.”