Penrith Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo returns to NRL training just hours after welcoming second child

Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo is so committed to the cause of securing three NRL premierships in a row, he returned to training just four hours after his partner gave birth to their second child. 

He then took to the field just three days later in Penrith’s 44-12 thumping over Manly on Saturday night, smashing the 200m mark as well as making 25 tackles to highlight his role as the unsung hero of a Panthers squad full of flashy showmen.  

Initially due to give birth on Sunday, Yeo’s partner Ashley Camenzuli, entered labour when she woke on Thursday morning at 6.30am.

She had given birth to son, which they named Lennox Gerrard Yeo, by 8.20am, before Yeo arrived at Penrith training for a 1pm leadership meeting then a field session that evening.

It is the couple’s second child following the birth of daughter Haven in 2021. They became engaged in Switzerland during November last year. 

Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo and partner Ashley Camenzuli welcomed their second child this week – and Yeo was already at training just four hours after the birth

Yeo took to social media to announce the arrival of his second child, son Lennox Gerard Yeo

Yeo (centre) pictured lifting the Provan Summons Trophy with co-captain Nathan Cleary after Penrith won the 2021 grand final, is so committed to the cause he returned to training just four hours after his partner gave birth

Yeo has been with Camenzuli for approximately four years, and after son Lennox was born, he said he just could not contain his excitement, and wanted to go to training so he could ‘brag to all the boys.

‘I was too pumped so I just wanted to tell everyone,’ he said.

‘He (Lennox) was sleeping, and Ash, my partner, was having a bit of a rest.

‘I wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing twiddling my thumbs so I decided to go brag to all the boys at training that I’d just had a kid. It was a crazy couple of days.

‘I didn’t get there until 12-12.30pm (after Lennox was born at 8.20am). I told everyone who walked in ‘I’ve just had a boy’. I was just pumped and I still am.’

The reigning Dally M Captain of the Year, who has also captured three straight Dally M Lock of the Year honours, grew up in Dubbo – the son of former NRL star Justin Yeo – and is as humble and unassuming as they come. 

He recently signed a blockbuster deal that will mean he will remain a Panther for life, saying he and Camenzuli, who is from the area, were ‘proud to call this place home’.

And his teammates are in awe of his dedication to the club after returning to training just hours after Lennox’s birth.  

Yeo, partner Ash and daughter Haven holidayed in Switzerland during November last year, before the Panthers star popped the question

Yeo celebrates with daughter Haven and Panthers fans after winning the 2022 grand final against the Eels

Those teammates of course told him to return to the hospital, but Yeo figured there was little he could do with his daughter Haven staying at her grandparents’ house.

‘I told him to go back to hospital,’ star fullback Dylan Edwards said.

‘You wouldn’t have known that he’d been up earlier and been through the emotion of having a baby, that’s how professional he is.

‘He trained really well like he always does and he was able to come out and perform on the weekend.’

Yeo is not the first Panther to mix the birth of a child with a taxing football schedule, with Jarome Luai’s partner giving birth to their third child Halo during last year’s grand final week.

Yeo, partner Ash and daughter Haven also visited Paris during their end-of-season holiday in Europe last year

Yeo has won the last three Dally M Lock of the Year awards, and is the cornerstone of Penrith’s dominant forward pack

There must have been something in the water at Penrith, because that was just five days after Camenzuli gave birth to her and Yeo’s daughter, Haven. 

Edwards said that, while players differed on how long they stayed away following the birth of a child, Yeo’s return set the tone for players’ dedication to the team’s cause.

‘He’s the ultimate leader. He’s our captain and he leads by example,’ he said.

‘Everyone follows him and that was him wanting to be there for the team.

‘He’s a professional who wants to tick boxes, and that would have been important for him to be there and get that session done.’

After Saturday’s win over Manly, the Panthers now sit second on the ladder despite a sluggish start to their quest for back-to-back-to-back flags.

They will travel up the Pacific Highway to take on the Knights in Newcastle next Saturday night for a chance to keep the ball rolling.