I have absolutely no knowledge regarding what is happening behind the scenes. But having been involved in legal matters most of my career, I know only a fool would appeal unless they have something substantive that proves to be contrary to the decision against them or its severity, and the Penns do not look to me to be fools.
Therefore if they go ahead with the appeal and are prepared to spend more of their money pursuing a cause they feel justified, they MUST have enough to know they have a better than even chance of winning (unless of course this is all to wedge open and expose the inequity and inability to effectively police the TPA structure, but I wonder if the Penns are that interested in just making a point). Otherwise they would just cut their losses and move on.
It seems, if they proceed, that something substantive is in the Penn's corner. We just dont know what it is. But I would suspect the NRL are getting quite anxious now about the outcome. They seem to just want Manly to crawl back and take their medicine. The fact that they dont seem to be doing that, implies it is approaching dangerously close to a major confrontation within the structure of the game, that could result in serious spilt blood. This could be game changing. Just hope Manly isnt a casualty