Dylan Edwards re-signing for Penrith at below market worth highlights a “frightening” proposition for the remainder of the NRL because the core of the Panthers dynasty continues to be locked in long-term.
That’s the view of the NRL 360 panel after the celebrity fullback formally inked a four-year deal to stay with the reigning premiers till the tip of 2028.
The contract is reportedly value $850,000 to $900,000 a season however chief Fox League reporter James Hooper stated it spoke volumes about Edwards, and what the Panthers had constructed, that the 27-year-old didn’t even take a look at the market and had sacrificed as much as $500,000 a yr of incomes potential.
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“Loyalty does count for something,” Hooper stated. “When he first arrived at the club he was in and out of first grade, he got the yips under the high ball a bit. But they backed him, because of how hard he trained, how disciplined he was and the sacrifice he was prepared to make.
“So to stay as part of a premiership-winning successful organisation he’s prepared to take unders. If he enters the open market no doubt about it (he gets) $1.2m, $1.3m (a season), maybe more, but it says a lot about him.
“… For all the young kids at home, Dylan Edwards is one of the hardest trainers that I’ve ever seen.. It just shows you if you’re prepared to do the work, hard work will take you a long way.”
Gorden Tallis stated the Panthers wouldn’t swap Edwards for another No.1 within the league and Braith Anasta agreed, calling Edwards a modern-day rugby league “superman”.
“Character, class and loyalty which unfortunately doesnt really exist that much in the game at the moment,” Anasta stated.
“But this kid here, he has got something very special on and off the field.”
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Edwards joins fellow prime Panthers Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris and Liam Martin in signing new long-term offers with the membership.
Five-eighth Jarome Luai is now the “final piece of the puzzle” in conserving the core of the squad collectively long run however Hooper urged it might not be a shock if he adopted go well with and signed for lower than he might command elsewhere.
“I know they’ve tapped into this theme . It’s been 40 years since any rugby league team at the elite level was able to win three successive premierships. You’ve got to go back to that 81-82-83 when Jack Gibson coached the Parramatta Eels to that feat,” he stated.
“It is frightening that the Panthers have now got this system together where they’ve got the biggest junior rugby league nursery in the world … and they have just got the procession line rolling to the point they are now getting big-name superstar players to accept a little bit less to keep everybody together… it’s scary.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au