Rumours of Tyrone Peachey training with his former Panthers teammates has been quashed by the club, after an Instagram story from Josh Mansour caught heat on Monday.
Aside from offering up a sweaty play-by-play of footy players living their best off-season lives at Finns beach club, Instagram delivered some spice on Monday when keen social media eyes spotted a story from Mansour that identified a player training with Panthers players as Peachey.
Check it out below.
Except, it’s not.
So it’s actually James Fisher-Harris’ teenage cousin Adam. He has no NRL experience but he seems like a fun guy. Should we sign him anyway? 🤷🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/gKhLObQxMV
— Penrith Panthers (@PenrithPanthers) September 24, 2019
Hijinks? Probably.
Peachey signed a lucrative three-year deal in 2018 to head to the glitter strip joining former teammates Bryce Cartwright, Leilani Latu and Mitch Rein.
According to Peachey, there was no bad blood which forced him to leave Penrith.
‘’I’ve got a little family, my little girl turns one so I’ve got to look after my family. They (Gold Coast) just gave me the security I needed,’’ Peachey told reporters at the time.
When asked if his decision was influenced by a reported drama that has plagued the club’s pre-season, Peachey was quick to shut down the gossip.
‘’No way,’’ he said.
‘’If I could stay I’d stay, but just the situation of the club, they’ve got a few players off contract that they want to keep.
‘’The opportunity came up at the Gold Coast and Gus gave me the all clear which made the decision a lot easier for me.
‘’I spoke to Brenno (Garth Brennan) and he thinks the club is growing over there.
‘’The decision was tough. I wanted to stay, I’d love to stay, but like I said there’s a few players off contract that the club want to keep over me. The decision kind of had to be made.’’
After an underwhelming opening season with the Titans, Peachey’s manager Sam Ayoub initiated talks with the Titans’ hierarchy in June in an attempt to seek an early release on compassionate grounds.
Initially, reports pegged uncertainty surrounding Waqa Blake’s next move as a potential hurdle to Peachey returning to the Panthers.
Then it was James Maloney’s future.
Both are now off the books at Penrith.
For his part, Peachey said in August that he’s not going anywhere. "I've had that chat with Mal. My partner's happy and everything, so I told Mal that I want to be here," Peachey told nrl.com
"There's rumours that no one's safe for next year and I'm just trying to put my hand up for that No.6 jersey next year."
Peachey played 109 matches for the Panthers between 2014 and '18 before salary cap constraints forced him to the Titans.
