Panthers GM Phil Gould has revealed that the Titans tried to lure Panthers five-eighth James Maloney so that star centre Tyrone Peachey could remain at Penrith.

Speaking on his podcast Six Tackles with Gus,ย Gould discussed the potential deal that never took off.

โ€œThe Gold Coast said, โ€˜Weโ€™re prepared to do a little bit of a trade. We wouldnโ€™t mind having James Maloney at the Gold Coast, you can keep Tyrone Peachey and weโ€™ll take James Maloney because weโ€™d like a player of his experienceโ€™,โ€ Gould said.

โ€œI said, โ€˜James Maloneyโ€™s not for saleโ€™. That wasnโ€™t going to happen. Itโ€™s within their rights to make the inquiry. But Tyrone will honour his deal at the Titans.โ€

Peachey signed a three-year deal with the Titans but is reportedly considering backing out of it.

Gould also said he made Maloney's manager away of the inquiry just to be transparent.

โ€œI spoke to (Maloneyโ€™s) manager just to let him know the inquiryโ€™s come in,โ€ Gould said.

โ€œI refused it but I rang his manager and said, โ€˜Gold Coast Titans have made an inquiry about James Maloney, Iโ€™ve said no, Iโ€™m just letting you know theyโ€™ve shown some interest.โ€™

โ€œJames has brought so many great things to our club. Weโ€™ve signed him for three years for a reason, and heโ€™s only in the first year of that contract. I can understand the Gold Coast Titans too because theyโ€™re a young club on the rise, theyโ€™re within their rights to chase the player they think can help their club as well.

โ€œI think other clubs know weโ€™re going to run into salary cap issues over the next couple of years so thatโ€™s why they make approaches to Corey Harawira-Naera and those sorts of players. Weโ€™d like that to be in our control but by the same token weโ€™re mindful that if our players are worth more money and other clubs are wiling to pay it and we canโ€™t, weโ€™ll look at that with a compassionate view.โ€

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