THE Sydney Roosters are on the verge of signing NSW Origin centre Michael Jennings from Penrith effective immediately.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Panthers general manager Phil Gould's ongoing feud with Jennings has all but delivered the Blues strike weapon to rookie coach Trent Robinson at the Roosters' Allianz Stadium headquarters.

The coup for the Roosters would deliver the club its biggest Penrith junior since Brad Fittler defected to join then Tricolours coach Gould at Bondi Junction in 1996.

It also continues the big-name player exodus from Penrith under Gould and coach Ivan Cleary's tenure, following former captain Luke Lewis and Michael Gordon's defection to Cronulla last season.

The Roosters and Penrith are negotiating the terms of Jennings being granted a release from his $600,000 contract and a deal could possibly be finalised by as early as this week.

The story caught fire on social media yesterday after Panthers supremo Gould cryptically tweeted at 9.08pm last Friday: "Very difficult for any struggling team to rise out of the cellar when key players perform poorly and won't accept responsibility for results." Jennings' signature would deliver the Roosters one of the NRL's most potent attacking backlines, joining Mitchell Pearce, James Maloney, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Anthony Minichiello and young guns Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Tautau Moga.

A deal had all but been done for Jennings to join St George Illawarra at the end of last season only for his manager Isaac Moses to intervene and stipulate he did not want his client playing at the Dragons.

Jennings is Penrith's highest-paid player, who was signed to a ridiculous back-ended five-year contract under the Panthers' previous administration and has long been regarded as a problem child in Sydney's greater west.

His feud with Gould stretches back to this time last season, when the Panthers supremo called him into the club's Mulgoa Rd headquarters and delivered a spray over his attitude.

The result was Jennings started the season in scintillating form before breaking club rules on Anzac Day at Panthers Leagues club, leading coach Ivan Cleary to drop him to the NSW Cup outfit the Windsor Wolves.

NSW Origin coach Ricky Stuart then showed tremendous faith in Jennings, making him the first Blues player in 30 years to be chosen from reserve grade.

Jennings rewarded Stuart with five-star performances on the game's biggest stage as Penrith floundered at the foot of the NRL table.