Two-club race breaks out for departing Storm veteran

He was a confirmed departure from the Storm at the end of 2023.

The Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra Dragons have reportedly emerged as the surprise front-runners to secure the signature of Tom Eisenhuth.

The departing Melbourne Storm centre and second-rower was confirmed to have made his exit from the Melbourne-based club at the end of 2023, alongside a host of other players which included the English Super League bound duo of Jayden Nikorima and Tariq Sims.

But Eisenhuth, who has served as a handy back up at NRL level and brings plenty of experience with him, is yet to sign a new deal.

The 31-year-old, who debuted for the Panthers in 2012, but then didn’t play another NRL games until 2019 with the Melbourne Storm, has played 58 games in the last five years for Craig Bellamy’s side.

It means he has a total of 59 NRL games under his belt, to go with countless more across the NSW Cup and QLD Cup.

A former New South Wales under-18s and Australian Junior Kangaroos player who hasn’t quite gone on to the heights that may have once been expected of him, Wide World of Sports are now reporting that both the Panthers and Dragons are showing interest.

As it stands, the Panthers are the front-runners, but may only have a supplementary deal for the centre and second-rower, with their Top 30 reportedly full.

Penrith are a side made up of local juniors though, and Eisenhuth’s return could make him a handy addition able to play first-grade from Round 11.

If it’s not at the Panthers, then it’s believed the Dragons, who still have three Top 30 spots available, will be the ones to secure Eisenhuth.

“I spoke to Penrith’s recruitment man Jamie Jones and he said they may have something,” his manager Chris Haddad told the publication.

“If not then we are looking at the Dragons.”

NRL journalist suggests Wigan Warriors would have no chance against Penrith Panthers in Australia

Wigan Warriors are set to collide with the Penrith Panthers in the 2024 World Club Challenge after both were crowned Champions in 2023.

In 2023, Penrith lost the World Club Challenge against St Helens even though they were widely expected to win and win comfortably being at home.

They were beaten in Golden Point by a Lewis Dodd drop goal and it was widely argued that they hadn’t taken the game seriously.

This year, they are set to take on Wigan away on the 24th February and already the question is being asked if Wigan can beat the reigning NRL Champions of the last three years.

The notorious Mole of Wide World of Sports is among those having the discussion suggesting now Wigan have a chance of beating Penrith implying that Wigan would have no chance away.

He asked: “Can Wigan Warriors beat Penrith Panthers now it appears the World Club Challenge will be held in the UK?”

This prompted one fan to say: “No chance. Penrith didn’t take it seriously last year.”

If there was any doubt about Penrith taking the 2024 World Club Challenge seriously, Ivan Cleary’s comments show that they certainly will.

“It would be awesome to get another crack at it,” Cleary told AAP.

“We were pretty bummed about that one. We absolutely gave it our best, it was the first game of the year and St Helens were too good for us that night. It would be nice to get another shot at it.”

This came as he celebrated the Grand Final win over Brisbane Broncos.

“Queenslanders kind of fail at the end a lot of the time, so we knew that they (the Broncos) would falter,” Cleary said.

“Nah, halfway through the second half I was like ‘shit, get us out of here’, we were in all sorts. I’ve got no idea how we managed to pull that back.”

Cleary was asked about his son, Panthers halfback Nathan, who won his second Clive Churchill Medal and scored the winning try late in the grand final.

“I actually said to him yesterday that if I’d married someone else he would have been a pretty shit player,” the coach joked.

“I’ve got to thank his mum for everything that he’s got, because it’s certainly not from me.

“You know what, he owes me, too. I’ve driven him to that many things, I’ve made lunches for him and done all this stuff.

“But he’s actually now making my life easy, so I love you Nathan.”