Make Pritchard stay at Penrith: Geyer - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Make Pritchard stay at Penrith: Geyer

By Liam FitzGibbon 26/08/2008 04:59:25 PM Comments (0)

Penrith great Mark Geyer says Frank Pritchard should be made to stay with the Panthers despite ongoing of reports of the Kiwi backrower's unrest at the NRL club.

Pritchard has been the subject of fresh claims he wants out and the most recent reports link him to Super League club Leeds.

Doubts about his commitment to Penrith only grew on Monday night when he was accused of exaggerating a shoulder injury to stay off the field in the 40-6 loss to Melbourne at CUA Stadium.

Penrith have claimed they will not release Pritchard, who has two years remaining on his current deal, and Geyer said the club should continue the hardline stance.

"He's certainly playing like he wants to go away isn't he?," said Geyer.

"What do you do? Do you make a bloke honour his contract or do you give in and say `see you later?'

"Penrith are in a no-win situation aren't they? I think the contract should be honoured.

"I think these days blokes get out of contracts way too easy and I think it's good that they make a stand and make him earn his money.

"They've basically built a team around him and he can't just say when he wants that he wants to go, even if Sonny Bill Williams did it.

"I'd make him enjoy his time and if he doesn't want to stay, well there's not much he can do, I suppose."

Geyer also called on Pritchard to publicly clear up his situation, out of fairness to Panther fans.

"Obviously he's not a happy camper and we keep hearing week in and week out that he's not," Geyer said.

"So either come out and dispel the rumours or come out and say `My time's up, I'm ready to go.'

"It's not fair on the club and not fair on the fans."

Pritchard came off at halftime on Monday night and allegations surfaced he did not want to return.

Penrith trainers reportedly told Fox Sports they felt Pritchard was fit enough to resume playing.

It was reported a senior Penrith player and a club official had to convince Pritchard to return to the interchange bench for the second half.

Pritchard played no further part in the match but coach Matthew Elliott later hosed down the accusations.

"Physically he wasn't right to go," Elliott said.

"To suggest the guy wasn't going to go back on the field because he was feigning injury is taking it just a tad too far."

Pritchard's manager David Riolo refused on Tuesday to make any comment on his client's future.

"I'm not going feed it, this is all driven by you guys (the media) so I'm not going to comment on it," Riolo said.

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