I have no doubt Lewis' manager has already got an agreement (in principle) in place with another club for about the same money, as no manager in his right mind would ask for a release without it. Given he was in Cronulla on the weekend and asked for a release on Monday, he's probably going there.
As for Gus being criticised for what he's doing, it's like what Perry inherited at Manly and has been criticised for (very unfairly from what I've seen so far) by the media, a massive salary cap problem.
Whereas we have a few good juniors coming through (in reality it's all you need, just 3 or 4 a year) Gus has a massive load of talent coming through in the Penrith juniors (leading Toyota Cup, semis in both SG Ball and Harold Matts) and probably wants to try and keep them, with a 5 to 10 year plan in mind.
Don't underestimate Gus, he maybe an arrogant 'punce' at times but he's a very good coach and judge of talent. And, Cleary has already demonstrated that he is a very good coach of younger players in their development stage when at the Warriors.