Liam Henry signs a two-year contract extension with Penrith Panthers

This week the Blayney native signed a two-year contract extension with Penrith and with that signature came confirmation the club has big plans for him.

The currently 20-year-old prop nicknamed 'Smiley' will be promoted to NRL development player status next year before progressing to the top 30 on the Panthers' roster in 2024.

"I'm pretty stoked about it, it's pretty exciting," Henry said.

"That's the goal obviously, to be able to do footy full-time, but when they asked and locked it in, it was pretty cool, it was awesome."

Since training with the Panthers' NRL squad during the pre-season, Henry has gone on to become an important member of the NSW Cup side.

Henry's side currently sits on top of the ladder, while his personal statistics include two tries, 12 tackle breaks, 405.9 post-contact metres and 228 tackles.

Producing those sort of numbers off the interchange bench have impressed Panthers officials, but for Henry it's about loving his footy and aiming for consistency.

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"It's pretty special. The last couple of years have been on and off with a bit of footy, but this year has been more consistent obviously and I've been getting a couple of games in," he said.

"It's been really good playing under Peter Wallace, he's an awesome coach, we've got a mad crew so I've been loving it.

"I average about 30-35 minutes a game, I'm just happy to be out there playing so anything I can get, I'll take.

"Just trying to be consistent every week is the goal while I've been playing cup. When I come off the bench for cup I just try and lift and be a bit of an energy boost for them, but yeah, just playing consistent footy has always been the goal."

Henry is currently balancing his football commitments with his job as a metal fabricator at the St Mary based Adler Fabrications.

But come the back end of this year, he'll be a full-time Panther.

"I'm a metal fabricator and I'm doing that three or four days a week now, but I'll finish that up in November and that's when I'll go full-time with the footy. My boss is awesome so that makes it easy," he said.

Henry is part of a long list of Central West talents who have risen through the ranks at Penrith.

While he's been inspired by the likes of Dubbo's Isaah Yeo and Forbes flyer Charlie Staines, he's only just now realising that he's acting as an inspiration for a lot of young Blayney Bears.

"I hadn't really thought about it like that, but yeah, that's pretty cool," he said.

"There are a lot of country boys at the club, so that makes it extra special for me to remain at the Panthers."

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