The son of former NRL great Steve Price, North Queensland Cowboys forward Riley Price, is reportedly set to exit the club at the end of the season.
Price, who made his NRL debut earlier this season in Round 5 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, has reportedly signed with back-to-back winners, the Penrith Panthers, for next season and will be included as part of their top 30 roster, per News Corp.
In the two first-grade games he has played in the NRL, Price managed two tackle busts, 13.6 post-contact metres, 28 tackles (90.3 per cent efficiency), and 48 total running metres (24 per game) in limited minutes off the interchange bench.
Whilst he plays in the forward like his father, Steve, Riley predominantly plays as a lock rather than a front-rower. He found himself in the Cowboys' squad after securing a development deal in 2022 after playing with the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. Price was also selected into the Queensland Under-20s emerging Origin squad in 2020.
Still young at 22 years of age, Price is yet live up to his potential; however, if one team can bring it out of him, it would be the Penrith Panthers. At the Panthers, he will be under the mentorship of international forwards Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Moses Leota, James Fisher-Harris and Scott Sorensen, all of whom will take him under their wing.
“I've never been the sort to let my last name get me anywhere in life, I always try to earn my spot in everything I've done,” Price said earlier this year to the Townsville Bulletin.
“He's come from a rugby league family, he's been around the game a long time and he's technically sound,” Cowboys coach Todd Payten has previously said.
“He's got good leg-speed, he's pretty skilful and he can play both back-row and in the middle, so he could cover both of those positions at any time throughout the game.”
His father, Steve Price, played in 313 NRL games from 1994-2009 for the Bulldogs (222) and Warriors (91), as well as 28 games for Queensland in State of Origin and 16 tests for Australia on the international scene and is a dual premiership winner having won them with the Bulldogs in 1995 and 2004- did not actually play in the 2004 Grand Final due to injury.