BY STAFF WRITERS

The81stMinute can reveal local junior Peter Wallace balked at returning to the Penrith Panthers because of the way he was treated the first time he was at the club and did not want to sign with the mountain men.

Wallace was left with a sour taste in his mouth by Panthers officials at the time with the halfback dropped to reserve grade midway through 2007 after agreeing to join the Brisbane Broncos the following season. He had received a Man of the Match award a week earlier for the Panthers.

Wallace became an integral part of the Broncos spine alongside the legendary Darren Lockyer and re-signed a new deal with the club in 2012 only to be tapped on the shoulder by then-coach Anthony Griffin less than twelve months later.

“Yeah, I would love to stay in Brissie,” Wallace said in 2012.

“I really feel at home there and would love to have a couple more seasons there at least.”

It is believed Wallace scoffed at Penrith’s initial advances but came around after speaking to Panthers General Manager Phil Gould who was not involved with the Panthers in 2007.

It comes after former Broncos teammate Justin Hodges expressed his anger at Brisbane pushing Wallace out the door.

“I wasn’t happy, he was a great player. He is a guy I loved playing with,” Hodges told Fox Sports’ Queenslanders Only.

“He is probably one of the toughest guys around.

“No matter how the game was going he would put his body on the line for you.”

Wallace will now turn out for the Panthers, under Griffin, against the Broncos this weekend at Suncorp Stadium.