Star hooker Api Koroisau has revealed he’d be staying at the Panthers if they could afford him, and declared he has four more years of NRL left in him.
Koroisau won the third premiership of his decorated career on Sunday night and was relishing the celebrations ahead of his departure to join the struggling Wests Tigers.
The 29-year-old enjoyed a strong finish to his Panthers career as the club won back-to-back titles with a 28-12 win over the Eels.
The New South Wales hooker will join the Tigers next season on a three-year deal and admits it was a business decision.
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“It’s a business these days and if it wasn’t for the salary cap stuff I would have been happy to stay at Penrith,” Koroisau told foxsports.com.au in the winning sheds.
“But these guys are in good stead, they’ve got nothing to worry about here.
“But it’s definitely (tough). It won’t hit me until I’m at home by myself and all the partying is done and I have some time to think, so that’ll be in two or three days time.”
Koroisau, who turns 30 next month, believes he can play beyond his next contract which will keep him at the Tigers until the end of 2025.
“Definitely, especially after playing here with these guys, they’re so young and give you so much energy and winning helps, nobody can deny that, that’s a huge thing,” he said.
“I feel great at the moment. My career has been great so far and I’ve feel like I’ve been playing some good footy these past few years.”
Koroisau won a premiership with the Rabbitohs in 2014 and has the past two with Penrith
Panthers icon Scott Sattler told foxsports.com.au Koroisau was a “massive loss” but that he’d earned his big-money deal at the Tigers.
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“I think Api is finally getting the pay day he deserves,” Sattler said.
“Although they don’t want to see him go and they’d love to be able to match it, the Panthers understand that Api travelled a long and lonely road to get to where he got to.
“He won a comp as a young player in 2014 and was 21 years of age. This next deal for him, that’s his pay day for him and his family, that’s his security to tie up the next five, seven, 10 years of his life.
“Although they wouldn’t want to see him go, there are some players where the club is happy to see them finally get rewarded for their hard work.”
He also knows exactly what NSW star Koroisau is going through as salary cap pressure saw Sattler leave the Panthers for the Tigers after they won the 2003 premiership.
“I got squeezed out because we had so many good young players coming through and I was 31 years of age coming to the end of my contract,” Sattler said.
“I was told by the CEO at the start of the year that if I was having a good year by the middle of the season there would be a contract for me and I made Origin that year which means I’m probably playing ok and when I was in Origin I found out there was no deal for me.
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“That was on the back of the emergence of these talented young players that they probably didn’t expect were going to be playing as much rugby league and they were on deals in relation to how many first-grade games they played and how many wins they had would increase their contract.
“Success and young players involved in success builds a higher expectation from a salary point of view and that’s where I got squeezed out.
“The loss of Api and (Viliame) Kikau are enormous. To lose them is huge and they haven’t replaced them with like-for-like players.”
Even coach Ivan Cleary admitted post-game on Sunday that the Panthers “won’t be able to replace” Koroisau.
“He makes people feel good, everybody plays better when he’s out there and he’s had an incredible season. We won’t be able to replace him.”
