Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has revealed the club is "confident" of locking up Dylan Edwards on a new contract.
The back-to-back premiers and three-in-a-row grand finalists are juggling a tricky salary cap situation despite a number of high-profile losses in recent seasons, and the looming loss of star centre Stephen Crichton at the end of this season.
2024 will bring a new set of challenges for the Panthers, with big money already tied up in long-term deals for the likes of Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Brian To'o and the recently re-signed Liam Martin, who is believed to be going onto a contract worth as much as $750,000 per season.
That has left Jarome Luai and Dylan Edwards as the key members of the side still off-contract, while others who will be able to negotiate with rival clubs from November 1 out of the successful operation include Matt Eisenhuth, Luke Garner, Zac Hosking, Mitch Kenny, the soon to arrive Daine Laurie, Ativalu Lisati, Taylan May, Tyrone Peachey, Lindsay Smith and young gun outside back Sunia Turuva.
It has already been reported that Luai is the most likely to leave, with the star five-eighth set to test the open market from November 1 - it's a market that will be devoid of many quality options in the six and seven.
But Cleary said the club is confident of retaining Edwards, although he'd prefer not to discuss contracts during the finals.
โIt'd be preferable to not be talking about contracts in finals, but it's just the way that our system works. But there's no real drama there,โ Cleary said.
โIt just depends on the player and the agent sometimes. We're pretty cool with that one and we're confident we'll get that one done.โ
Edwards is a constant achiever at the Panthers, often among their best players in the number one jumper. Despite not being as flashy as some other fullbacks, the Penrith star, who was a reserve for last year's Rugby League World Cup and will be in contention for the New South Wales number one jumper next year, does a consistent job for Penrith week in week out and is among the NRL's biggest metre-eaters.
Safe in defence, Edwards has now played 124 NRL games since his 2016 debut, and more impressively, has (or will) play at least 20 games in each of the last three seasons in a true tip of the hat to his consistency.
Edwards will likely take under market value to stay at the back-to-back premiership winners, with the fullback previously expressing his desire to remain a Panther.
