Monday Buzz: Why Penrith Panthers can’t keep all its NRL kids

The value of Penrith’s squad has risen unexpectedly which will put pressure on its salary cap because of a problem created by Phil Gould.

The Panthers didn’t want to lose Matt Burton, but the bloke ahead of him in Penrith is something special. Picture: AAP

It’s interesting the Panthers are blowing up about Matt Burton joining the Bulldogs and the possibility of losing other great players to rival clubs.

This is what happens when you have by far the biggest junior nursery in the NRL with thousands more participants and potential NRL players than your premiership rivals.

Last year the Panthers had 8518 juniors. The Roosters had 696, Balmain had 1607 and Manly had 2085 on the northern peninsula.

Only the Parramatta Eels with 5107 get anywhere near the Panthers.

Obviously Penrith can’t stow them away and keep them all.

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Burton will play for the Bulldogs from 2022. Picture: NRL Photos

Those who can’t make their top-30 list naturally look for opportunities elsewhere.

Burton spent the year on the sideline at Penrith but wants to play first grade.

For that he shouldn’t be criticised by anyone. He’s far too good not to be playing NRL but can’t get a shot while Jarome Luai has a mortgage on the number six jersey for possibly a decade.

It is actually good for the competition that the Panthers have such a wonderful production line churning out footy players to help clubs like the Bulldogs finally become more competitive.

The problem is that the Panthers have been spending a squillion funding their own junior rugby league program.

Will the Panthers have the cash to keep rising star Stephen Crichton? Picture: Brett Costello

They spend $2 million more on pathways than most other clubs.

This is where the NRL needs to step in with a new junior funding strategy.

Junior rugby league should be funded by the state leagues, not the individual clubs.

Clubs should get funding each year depending on their number of participants.

This takes away the unfairness the Panthers have been complaining about.

There is another important issue with Penrith’s recruitment.

It is a problem that rarely gets mentioned because it was created by a man called Phil Gould.

Two years ago Gus put front-rower Reagan Campbell-Gillard and centre Waqa Blake on long-term contracts on way more money than they were actually worth.

He also signed James Maloney for three years but got rid of him after two.

Ivan Cleary joined the club but didn’t want them.

The Panthers are still forking out for Reagan Campbell-Gillard to play at Parramatta. Picture: Phil Hillyard

It meant the Panthers paying for James Maloney ($200k) in the UK Super League, Waqa Blake ($200k) and Reagan Campbell-Gillard ($300k) at the Parramatta Eels.

That was $700,000 out of this year’s salary cap.

They will be contributing to Campbell-Gillard and Blake for another two years at the Eels.

It means they are playing $500,000 under the cap for the next two seasons.

That’s nobody’s fault but their own.

It also means they won’t have the cash to ensure outstanding youngsters like Stephen Crichton can be kept at the foot of the mountains.

Losing James Tamou and Burton isn’t enough to ease the salary cap pressure.

Cleary could have stuck with Campbell-Gillard and Blake but it would have stopped him from assembling the magnificent young side that won 17 games straight this year.

They thought it would be manageable because they had such a young roster.

And no-one anticipated the value of their squad would rise so substantially this year.

Originally published as Monday Buzz: Why Penrith Panthers can’t keep all its NRL kids