South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Penrith Panthers results, round 9, updates, latest news; Phil Gould suggests Liam Martin switch ahead of James Fisher-Harris exit

Phil Gould has weighed in on the future of the Panthers, floating a left-field solution to the impending exit of star enforcer James Fisher-Harris.

With premiership winners Fisher-Harris, Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva for 2025 and beyond, Penrith will be looking to reshuffle their roster to fill the voids left by the trio. 

According to the former head of football at the club, the Panthers will be well-placed to continue their on-field dominance, but believes State of Origin back-rower Liam Martin could be the answer to one of their dilemmas. 

“It will be interesting to see if they buy one front-rower or two mid-range front-rowers or a couple of journeymen just to fill. It will be interesting to see how they play that. 

“A lot of their salary cap is already taken up. Liam Martin might push up into the front-row and they look for a back-rower. 

“They’ve got a lot of high-priced players in that club – but the beauty of it is, they’ve got a pathway and assembly line that is pushing through talent.”

Martin has made sporadic appearances in the middle for Penrith over the years, but has mainly featured on the edge since making his debut in 2019.

Fisher-Harris will head to the Warriors next year, while both Turuva and Luai have signed with the Wests Tigers on long-term deals.