Spencer Leniu informs Penrith he will leave the club, Roosters set to swoop
Spencer Leniu will depart the Panthers at the end of this season as the back-to-back premiers begin to pay the price of their success.
Leniu has told the Panthers that he will join close friend Stephen Crichton in leaving the club at the end of the season, with the Sydney Roosters’ recruitment spree expected to step into overdrive in the coming days to secure Leniu’s services from next season.
Josh Addo-Carr out for Pacific Test series over Koori Knockout fight, Dylan Edwards called into Kangaroos squad
Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards is in line for a maiden representative jersey after being called into Australia’s extended squad for the Pacific Test series.
Edwards’s absence was one of the only controversies from coach Mal Meninga’s squad named ahead of the first match against Samoa on October 14.
But the triple premiership winner has been added as a late addition as cover for Josh Addo-Carr, who has been hit with a breach notice by the NRL for an incident at the Koori Knockout competition.
“It is alleged Addo-Carr engaged in conduct which has brought the game into disrepute by punching an opposition player to the head following a match,” the NRL statement read.
The breach notice does not specify any punishment for Addo-Carr, but flags that he has five business days to respond.
Known for his reliability in defence and out of yardage, Edwards has been one of the Panthers’ most important and improved players during their four NRL seasons of dominance.
He received the Clive Churchill Medal for his man-of-the-match performance in their 2022 grand final victory over Parramatta and polled the eighth most votes in this year’s Dally M Medal count.
But captain James Tedesco has had a mortgage on the NSW and Australian fullback spots since before Penrith’s resurgence, leaving Edwards the only three-time premiership Panther yet to play representative footy.
The 27-year-old made his NRL debut as an outside back and had been suggested by pundits as an option at wing for NSW’s State of Origin side this year, though was ultimately overlooked.
With a dearth of specialist wingers in Meninga’s squad, Edwards could find himself called onto the edge for a Kangaroos debut.
But Holmes will miss the first game against Samoa on October 14 due to a one-game suspension over a social media video that, according to the NRL, “brought the game and his club into disrepute by publicly associating the game with illegal drugs”.
The call-up continues another year to remember for Edwards, who re-signed with the Panthers through 2028 in August and played fullback in their latest premiership triumph on Sunday.
