Panthers general manager Phil Gould has said the club would not stand in Jamal Idris's way if the injured star centre wanted to leave Penrith at season's end.
After announcing Brydens Lawyers as the Panthers' official law partner for the next three years on Tuesday morning, Gould said nothing had changed since releasing a statement about Idris's future on Twitter on Saturday.
My response to reports regarding Jamal Idris .... pic.twitter.com/DLxpZBsfY4
— Phil Gould AM (@Gus10Gould) May 10, 2015With the former New South Wales and Kangaroos centre having been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, Gould said Idris's "happiness and health" was the club's priority.
"We support Jamal completely as he currently recovers from his knee injury. The prognosis on that is excellent but Jamal needs to decide what he wants to do for his future," Gould said on Tuesday.
"It's completely in his court what he wants to do in his career whether it is in rugby league or something else down the track. Jamal will make his mind up in good time because he has a lot of things to think about.
"He's a great asset to us and he's been wonderful, not only on the field but off the field as well. He's a popular personality and he's wonderful footballer, a terrific footballer – we're certainly better when he's in the team."
Meanwhile Gould – who remains New South Wales's most successful coach of all-time with 14 wins from 24 Origin matches – believes Laurie Daley's choice of halves for Origin I on May 27 will not determine whether the Blues win or lose the series.
While he prefers Roosters halves James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce, Gould said NSW selectors should be looking towards the future no matter which playmakers are picked.
"Everyone is making a big deal over the halves. I'm not too worried about the halves. I don't care which ones they pick, I don't think it's going to make a big difference," Gould said.
"Personally, I like Pearce and Maloney. I think they are the best two available but if they go with any other combination I don't think it's going to be the winning or losing of the series. It wasn't the winning or the losing of the series last year.
"There are other decisions I think our selectors need to look towards. Our view should be more towards the future of the Blues because Queensland are getting older and there's an opportunity there to claim back a bit of ground if we get it right."
Gould also remained very complimentary of Penrith fullback Matt Moylan's chances of securing an Origin debut when the team's are named next Tuesday.
"[Matt] keeps putting himself in the frame," Gould said. "Every time we ask Matt to step up he does, he's playing terrific football and is one of the number of contenders. If [he doesn't make his debut this year] then he certainly will in the future."
