Penrith Panthers' CEO Brian Fletcher has said the club is confident of keeping assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo.
Ciraldo is widely regarded as the next man to step up into a head coach role, and it's understood the Wests Tigers have moved him to the top of their wishlist as they look to turn the battling club around.
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It's been reported that an internal review at the Tigers is now complete, with recommendations made to the board who yesterday asked for more time in deciding the future of coach Michael Maguire.
While it is yet to be reported the reasons for the board delaying their decision on Maguire, a pretty comfortable guess could be made that Cameron Ciraldo is a large chunk of the reason.
The Penrith assistant coach, who took over as caretaker for a period following Anthony Griffin's departure from the foot of the mountains and guided the side into the finals, has previously stated his intention to not make a decision until the Panthers' season is over.
While the Tigers have reportedly approached Ciraldo, Fletcher told The Sydney Morning Herald that the assistant coach is unlikely to take a risk.
“He won’t rush into any other job, especially one that has any risk with it,” Fletcher said.
The comments will come as a bitter blow for the Tigers, with Fletcher effectively torpedoing the idea of Ciraldo moving to the Tigers.
The club finished 13th on the ladder this season and have made few recruitment decisions for 2022 despite reportedly having a large war chest to go spending with.
The Panthers face the Storm in a preliminary final on Saturday evening, with a possible grand final the following Sunday, so at any rate, a decision on Ciraldo's future and the Tigers' eventual direction may not be that far away.