Gordon became the unwitting victim of a catty controversy last weekend when an article emerged in a Sunday newspaper suggesting he’d demanded Cleary give him the No.1 jersey or he’d quit the Panthers and join a rival club.

But the fleet-footed NSW State of Origin representative urged Panthers supporters to disregard the feisty attitude prevalent in the headline ‘‘Give me fullback spot or I’m off’’.

‘‘There’s no truth in that at all — nothing like that was said,’’ Gordon told the Star.

‘‘I didn’t have one quote in the whole article and it’s just hard because it makes me look bad.

‘‘I love Penrith and I’m here to stay.’’

Gordon said the contents of the story, which appeared online at midnight Saturday and quickly sparked tweets from concerned fans to Gordon, gave a different message to that of the dramatic headline.

Off contract at the end of 2012, the man who made his first grade debut with Penrith in 2006 simply wants to ensure his future is in line with his career dreams and ambitions.

‘‘Obviously Panthers is the only club I’ve been to and I’d love to stay but it’s a business these days and you don’t know what’s going to happen — you’ve just got to do what’s best for yourself and the club.’’

The 28-year-old admitted he had requested an early release but ‘‘that’s going back a long time and it was under different circumstances’’.

Jumping to Gordon’s defence on Sunday was teammate Sandor Earl, who tweeted: ‘‘For the record Michael Gordon would never talk like that about the Panthers or his footy — too good a bloke.’’

As Gordon shifts his focus to his first trial game of the season against the Newcastle Knights in Port Macquarie on Saturday night, he said he couldn’t wait to play again after succumbing to a season-ending knee injury in May last year.

Chat with Michael Gordon on Twitter: @MichaelGordon83