Warriors loan forward Jack Hetherington will not face his regular teammates at Penrith next week after the NRL clubs agreed he would sit out the match.
Hetherington has been on loan to the Warriors since late June and was scheduled to become the first player to come up against his regular employers.
While there were no specifics in the loan deal stopping Hetherington from playing, it’s believed the fiery forward’s position has long been he did not want to play agianst his teammates.
The clubs then spoke on Wednesday night, with Warriors coach Todd Payten agreeing to sit him out of the match.
Penrith are expected to pay his wages next week while he will continue to train with the Warriors and return to their team the week after.
“Having spoken to both Jack and the Warriors, we are confident it is in everyone’s best interests at this stage for Jack to sit out our Round 14 fixture,” a Penrith spokesman told AAP.
Hetherington has made an impact since arriving at the Warriors, taking it to Jared Waerea-Hargreaves a fortnight ago and running 138 metres in last week’s win over the Wests Tigers.
He is one of three players on loan to the Warriors to assist them this season, alongside Parramatta’s George Jennings and Daniel Alvaro.
At this stage it is unclear if Jennings and Alvaro will face Parramatta in round 17.
The NRL’s only other loan players Harry Grant and Paul Momirovski will be free to play each other when the Wests Tigers and Melbourne meet in round 19.
Their situation is, however, different given it is a player swap, with both clubs agreeing in March they would be free to play in any future fixtures this year.