Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary still harbours concerns about the NRL's year-round contract system, but has distanced the joint venture from actively angling to keep skipper Aaron Woods at the club in the wake of the Bulldogs' salary cap squeeze.
At a time when the NRL is rummaging for every dollar to keep clubs and stakeholders happy, how does the Rugby League Players Associations threat to boycott the Dally M Medal punish the governing body?
The Sydney Roosters survived an almighty scare from a resurgent Wests Tigers to avoid being on the wrong end of what would have been the upset of the season on Saturday night.
Manly coach Trent Barrett admits it would hurt if Sunday's surprise defeat to Wests Tigers costs his side a top-four finish.
These were the kind of scenes you would routinely see at Leichhardt Oval when Benji Marshall was here in his pomp.
'I'm coming home. I never wanted to leave the place, and I've tried several times to get back and now I've got my chance.'
So what about Phil Gould's five year plan at the Panthers? "There has never been a five year plan. That's media gibberish," Gould fires back.
Edgy clubs are keenly awaiting the finalisation of the cap for 2018.
Is Mitchell Moses a better footballer at Parramatta than he was at the Wests Tigers? Judging by his performances over the past month in particular, it's safe to assume so. But not according to the man himself.
There are players and officials at Wests Tigers still haunted by the death of Mosese Fotuaika, the 20-year-old front row forward who took his own life in 2013, shortly after sustaining a potentially season ending pectoral muscle injury at the club's Concord gym.
Penrith are finally where they should have been weeks ago, with coach Anthony Griffin admitting he never gave up on his side's finals hopes despite a disastrous start to the year.
Nathan Cleary lined up a conversion to end the Wests Tigers' hopes of victory right in front of his father, who was watching on in the away coaching box begging for his son to miss.
Just before Ivan Cleary's shock departure from the Penrith Panthers at the end of the 2015 season, he sat down with son Nathan to discuss how long it would take before he would get a taste of NRL football.
They've been there for each other since they were kids - but for 80 minutes on Sunday, Malakai and Dallin Zelezniak will be sworn enemies.
The Wests Tigers are keeping a close eye on the events unfolding at Canterbury and whether there might be a chance of hanging onto skipper Aaron Woods for next season.
Wests Tigers have recorded just their second win in 11 games to extinguish the semi-finals chances of Jarryd Hayne and the Gold Coast Titans.
Sitting in the Panthers dressing sheds after Thursday night's win against the Bulldogs, the Penrith players started joking about the week that Nathan Cleary was about to endure.
Reynolds abused a female security guard and failed to leave a licensed premises, police say.
It was a match Ralph Kelly, an avid Wests Tigers fan, should have been able to enjoy trading friendly barbs with son Stuart, an Eels fan, over.
Aaron Woods has made the stunning confession he could have been swayed to stay at the Tigers had Ivan Cleary taken over the reins sooner.