Warriors coach Ivan Cleary will leave the National Rugby League club at the end of the season to take up a 3-year deal with the Penrith Panthers.
While Cleary was contracted until the end of the 2012 season, Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah says both parties had agreed on an early release.
Cleary was approached by Panther's general manager Phil Gould a few weeks ago and he says he was keen to secure his future.
Cleary, the club's record holder for most games as an NRL coach, says he'll always remain indebted to the Warriors for the opportunity he had been given to become a first-grade coach in 2006.
Former Leeds Rhinos and New Zealand Test coach Brian McClennan and Warriors assistant Tony Iro are frontrunners to replace Cleary at the Auckland club.
