Peachey creates firestorm over Titans deal
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Penrith centre Tyrone Peachey has created a firestorm over his switch to the Gold Coast after saying on Wednesday he did not want to move to the Gold Coast next season despite signing a three-year deal with the Titans. He then later said in a separate interview that he would honour the contract.
Peachey agreed to the contract with the Titans in March but on Wednesday said he had instructed his manager, Sam Ayoub, that if it could be made possible, he wanted to remain in Sydney and at the Panthers.
The NSW representative said he did not want to relocate his young family and had recently bought a house in western Sydney.
"I love this club. They gave me this opportunity to play consistent first grade and I wouldn't have left if I didn't have to," Peachey said.
"We just built in Penrith so my missus is really comfortable at our new place. I spoke to my manager and told him what I wanted to happen."
Peachey told Ayoub he didn't want to worry about the contract situation until the end of Penrith's campaign.
He will line up in the centres for the Panthers in Friday night's sudden-death semi-final against the Cronulla Sharks at Allianz Stadium.
"I just want to worry about Penrith at the moment and we'll figure it all out. I told him I don't want to talk about it," he said.
"I have my full faith and trust in him making the right decision for me. Wherever I need to be, I'll be."
Later on Wednesday Peachey did an interview with Channel 7 in which he said he was likely to stick to the deal with the Titans.
It's understood Penrith would have to move more players on to keep the NSW utility, which is considered unlikely.
"We completed upgrading our players for the 2019 season. That's been done a month ago," Panthers chief executive Brian Fletcher said.
"Our cap is exhausted. We can't make any changes to it. I've never heard Tyrone, at any stage, say that he wouldn't honour the contract at the Titans. Tyrone is an honourable person and he will honour it for sure unless there are some very difficult circumstances. But I haven't heard anything to suggest there is."
Titans boss Graham Annesley indicated to AAP the Titans would play hard-ball over any bid from Peachey to back out of the deal.
"The situation is that he's got a legally binding contract with the Titans and of course we expect him to honour it," Annesley said.
"We've made a lot of recruitment and retention decisions off the back of his signing and we expect him to be here later this year.
"How could we [release him?] Where would we find another player of that quality on the market? Players like that don't exist at this stage of the year."
