The phone call that sparked Jenkins' return to the NRL

Nicholas Quinlan • August 22nd, 2025 4:04 pm

Penrith Panther Thomas Jenkins has given some insight into the phone call that helped him get back into the NRL squad.

After playing a couple of games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons for the Panthers, the 24-year-old would sign with the Newcastle Knights for the 2024 season as it looked unlikely he would break into the starting squad.

Initially, the move went well, having played the first five matches of the season. But from that, he would be dropped to reserve grade.

Following that, he would leave the club and begin training with the St Mary’s Ron Massey Cup team, who are the feeder club to Penrith.

It was during this time that Jenkins would call his former coach, Ivan Cleary, to get some clarity about a potential return to the Panthers, which helped set off a chain reaction leading up to making his return to the NRL in Round 3 this season.

“I called Iv,” Jenkins told SEN’s The Run Home with Joel and Fletch.

“I just sat down with him and had a coffee and basically just said, ‘This is my last stop kind of thing, what would you want to see out of me?’.

“And he is just one of those people who will give it to you straight, whether it’s something you want to hear or something you don’t want to hear.

“He just said, ‘Look, I can’t sit here and give you a contract, but in saying that, the door is not closed. If you can go back and we like what we see, then we can re-evaluate. It would be good for you to have a break and do your own thing'.

“So, I just went and worked part-time, trained in the arvos with Ron Massey (team), trained once and Benny Harden (the NSW) Cup coach from Penrith called me and said, ‘Hey, I heard you’re training with the boys, do you want to come and do (NSW) Cup for an arvo.

“And I said, ‘yeah sweet’ because I knew obviously that the closer I can get, the more I can develop and the better I’m going to be.

“I trained all arvo with the squad for the whole pre-season. The week before the third trial, the boys had gone over to Vegas, so we would like you to play in this trial, and two days out from the game, I signed a development deal into next year as well.”

Since that trial match against Manly, Jenkins has played 19 games for the Panthers this season, either playing in the centres or on the wing as they have gone from 17th into finals contention.

During those matches, he has scored 12 tries, ran for 2852 metres and managed 51 tackle breaks.

Jenkins will be starting on the wing for the Panthers in their clash against the Raiders on Friday night at Glen Willow Oval in Mudgee.

SEN will have live commentary of the match across its radio network and the SEN app from 5pm AEST.

Kick off will take place at 6pm.