‘Am I going mad?’ Penrith star’s contract saga sparks debate as big Luai question looms..

Debate has raged over Brian To’o’s reported discontent at the Panthers and what the star winger’s intentions for his future are.

To’o is reportedly unhappy with his current Panthers deal and there are whispers that he wants to join best mate Jarome Luai at the Tigers next season. To’o’s management is said to have met with Panthers brass on Wednesday.

NRL360 host Braith Anasta and The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis debated the reasons behind To’o’s meeting with Penrith.

“I don’t think it’s a money thing. He will be the highest paid winger in the game next year on 650,000,” Carayannis said.

“You look at the players that have left the club or are leaving the club are his best mates.”

Anasta disagreed, believing that To’o’s reported restlessness is money-related.

“You think he wants to leave to play with his mates? How is it not about money?” Anasta put to Carayannis, who replied: “Because he’s on 650,000 next year Braith. He’d be the highest paid winger in the game.”

“I think he got his head turned in NSW Origin camp this year. He’s obviously besties with Jarome Luai. Somehow it’s come up in conversation that would you consider coming to the Wests Tigers,” Fox League’s James Hooper interjected.

“I don’t know how. I don’t know why anyone will want to go there now at this point at time.”

“I still can’t understand. They’ve won three comps in a row and he wants to go to the Wests Tigers … Am I going mad here?” an incredulous Anasta said.

To’o is under contract with the Panthers until the end of 2027 having signed a massive extension two years ago.

He’s on $625,000 this season and that’s set to increase to $650,000 in 2025.

That figure will be the same as what Zac Lomax is set to be paid in the first year of his deal with the Eels next season.

Carayannis says To’o deserves to be paid like the game’s best winger, but thinks the $650,000 figure is more than fair, with Anasta disagreeing with that as well.

“If he’s on $650k, how much could he get. Lomax is on $650k next year. That is the benchmark for the best wingers in the game. He’s on top dollar,” Carayannis said.

“If they give him 900k, they’re making the same mistakes that they’ve made for the past decade … I would not pay him that. I’d pay him like the best winger in the game which is 650k.”

Anasta replied: “They’ve never bought a Brian To’o. Not only is the best (winger), he’s been the most consistent. He also an extra forward as well as a winger.”

“Is Brian To’o more consistent than Zac Lomax? Is it a gamble or a risk playing overs for a player like To’o?”

Hooper says he can see a side like the Tigers paying something like $900,000 for To’o.

“They need a circuit breaker. They have Jarome, they have Sunia Turuva. Brian To’o could completely transform that club,” Hooper said.

“I don’t think it’s all about money. I think that he’s got his head turned in camp.

“The key thing is that he hasn’t been shopped. No one has shopped him.”

Carayannis then referenced the players who have left or are about to leave Penrith.

To’o was particularly close with former Panthers Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu and outgoing Penrith stars Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva.

Crichton is now at the Bulldogs, Leniu at the Roosters while Luai and Turuva have signed long-term deals with the Tigers from 2025.

Those four were To’o’s four groomsmen at his wedding in 2022.

Anasta wasn’t buying that that would be a reason to leave a team like Penrith.

“As if he doesn’t have a close bond with his current (Panthers) teammates. That team, you watch them when they score tries, they all love each other,” Anasta said.

“They’re his best mates, but when you win a premiership, there is a special bond between all of them. He’s mates with all of them out there.”