A 90-minute heart-to-heart with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has failed to convince dethroned skipper Luke Lewis he should resume the role following the State of Origin series.
Lewis, likely to be in and out of the Panthers squad over the coming six weeks due to NSW commitments, was relieved of captaincy duties last week as Cleary sought a permanent leader at the foot of the mountains.
With Lewis “gutted” at the move, the Panthers had another crisis on their hands, with the future of star Michael Jennings also remaining far from resolved.
Cleary said the plan was always for Lewis to retake the leadership reins for 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 on Tuesday.
“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 State of Origin camp.”
Added Cleary: “My plans always have been and are that he’ll take the captaincy back.”
“He understands the position and he went out there on Sunday and did his job and played well.”
The irony of the situation is that 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’ dumping, the Panthers caused one of the upsets of the season in beating premiers Manly with Lewis the best on ground.
All three of those performances were achieved without Jennings, and it seems no-one is quite clear on what is happening with the highly-paid star.
The back page lead in Sydney’s two major newspapers offered contrasting views on whether Jennings was being shopped around to rival clubs, Cleary somewhat cryptic in his summation of the situation.
“You only ever want someone who wants to be here,” Cleary said.
“Michael’s no different. We want players who want to be here.
“Yes, I want him to be here.”
Asked if he had doubts over Jennings’ commitment to the Panthers, Cleary said:
“I haven’t seen or heard anything to suggest he doesn’t want to be here.
“Michael’s a player who’s obviously got a lot of ability.
“He can help us, there’s no doubt about that.
“In that respect, he’s very important.”
