NRL 2024: Isaiah Papali’i on falling out of favour at Wests Tigers, signing with Panthers after one meeting with Ivan Cleary
It took just one meeting with Ivan Cleary to make Isaiah Papali’i part of Penrith’s future plans after being told he was unwanted at Concord. Hear from the soon-to-be Panther on how he fell out of favour at the Tigers.
The Wests Tigers told Isaiah Papali’i he was unwanted beyond 2025 but it only took three-time premiership winning coach Ivan Cleary one meeting to make the backrower part of Penrith’s future plans.
The stunning revelation comes as Papali’i, speaking for the first time since agreeing to join the Panthers on a three-year deal, opened up about going from a marquee recruit to falling out of favour at Concord in just 18 months.
“My manager came to the club and asked what my future was like past that 2025 contract and they didn’t give a definite answer and we kindly asked if we could look elsewhere,” Papali’i said.
“I guess the club had to make some moves under a new CEO and Richo (Richardson) has done that, and that led to me having to go somewhere else.”
After meeting with CEO Shane Richardson the club agreed to release Papali’i from the final year of his in 2025, worth around $750,000 per season, if the 25-year could find a new home.
Penrith were looking to shore-up forward stocks after granting powerhouse prop James Fisher-Harris a shock release to move home to New Zealand and join the Warriors from 2025 on a four-year deal.
It took a week and single meeting in May, while Papali’i was sidelined with an ankle injury, for Cleary to snap up the Kiwi international.
“I had a meeting with the coach (Cleary). He’s seen me over the years, and seen the footy I like to play,” Papali’i said.
“They are well stacked in terms of middles and when Fish (Fisher-Harris) made his decision, it opened up the door for them to fill a spot they needed and they thought a backrower was what they could go looking for. I was lucky to sit down with him.”
Papali’i’s form during his two-year stint at Parramatta elevated him to elite backrower status, as he helped the Eels to a grand final appearance in 2022.
But a candid Papali’i, who returns from an ankle injury against the Warriors after nine weeks on the sideline, admits it is a ‘fact’ that he has struggled to live up to that reputation since joining the Tigers in 2023.
“It is obvious we aren’t getting results or playing the footy I had become used to in Parra colours. It’s tough to hear it but it’s pretty much facts,” Papali’ii said.
“I have struggled to find form and that led to not having a definitive answer of where my future was here. We both agreed my form wasn’t the best and that had led to me having an answer to what my manager was asking.
“I can’t dwell on what it has been like, I can just make sure I play good footy for the last six games I have.”
Benji Marshall played a crucial role in delivering Papali’i to the Tigers after the forward started getting cold feet about his move to Concord, even before the ink had dried on his lucrative three-year deal.
At the time, Papali’i cited concerns about the future direction of the club as rumours of a contract backflip swirled in the headlines.
“I think we had talked about it (reneging on the deal) but it was never going to come to fruition and it became a big media thing and it kept getting questioned about it, and I kept fending it off,” Papali’i said.
Now, the Tigers’ plans for a rebuild don’t include Papali’i and could soon not include rising prop Stefano Utoikamanu, who is on the verge of making a call on his future.
“The club as a whole is trying to find their feet and that’s what Richo is doing at the club, he’s making some pretty bold moves and I think that’s a credit to him to be able to come to the club in his first year and do those things,” Papali’i said.
“If there was nothing there for me (after 2025), I might as well clear up some cap space and let the club do their thing and make a squad they can build on.”
Richardson has made no secret of his desire to rebuild the club’s roster and there has been speculation the Tigers are willing to offload the likes Jayden Sullivan (2027) and Brent Naden (2025) to free-up even more cap space.
In the forward and backrow stocks, the club is banking on a crop of rising youngsters like Kit Laulilii, Lachlan Broaderlow, Jordan Miller and Samuela Fainu. There is also a view rookie playmaker Lachlan Galvin could be developed into a backrower, where he also played in the junior grades.
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