“Hopefully he can keep it running,” Luai said in a nod to his 15-year-old-brother Calvary, who is in the Panthers system.
“I have a son as well who loves footy. I was talking to Bizza [Brian To’o] about this before – a lot of us have a few sons in this team. It would be pretty cool if they come through and start something up again. That’s the dream.”
Asked if the next generation could do something similar, Luai said: “One hundred per cent. Those guys will be the ones to break what we’ve done, the record and that. Good luck to those boys.”
Panthers captains Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary at team celebrations on Wednesday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
As NRL champions, the Panthers were poised to play in the World Club Championship, against the winner of the Super League grand final between Wigan and Hull KR. However, Penrith have been forced to pull out due to the toll of internationals, the upcoming trip to Las Vegas and the need to give the players a mandated break.
Even if the English side was prepared to travel to Australia, the schedule wouldn’t allow the Panthers enough recovery time.
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“No, the coach is adamant the players won’t be ready to play,” Panthers chief executive Brian Fletcher said. “The players having surgery as well, that’s another two weeks earlier you need to get them ready by, which they wouldn’t be. It’s about the welfare of the players, we don’t have enough time to get a pre-season into them.”
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