Phil Gould says it would be “extraordinary” if Nathan Cleary ever left the Penrith Panthers, insisting the club’s captain is the sort of player who could command an unprecedented salary elsewhere.
Gould, now the Canterbury Bulldogs’ general manager, said he would be prepared to pay Cleary $2.5 million a season in a hypothetical NRL auction, underlining the value he places on the influential halfback.
“Players like Reece Walsh and Nathan Cleary, someone would pay extraordinary money for them,” Gould said on the Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
He added that the game’s leading playmakers were probably underpaid, although Cleary’s valuation would have consequences across the competition because other halfbacks would use it as a benchmark in contract negotiations.
“The problem is if Nathan Cleary is a $2 million player, then every halfback takes his rating off that,” Gould said. “It raises the cost of the average emerging player.”
The prospect of Cleary testing the market has become more significant with the planned arrival of a Perth-based NRL team in 2027 and a Papua New Guinea side in 2028, developments expected to drive up salaries for elite players.
Despite the financial incentive for Cleary to consider his options, Gould believes his long-term future should remain at Penrith, where he has built his career and helped establish the Panthers as one of the dominant teams in the modern NRL.
