2026 Recruitment And Retention

slotmachine said:
Knights sacked his dad, who was the recruitment boss, back in 2019.

But I think Pezet rejecting us has more to do with both he and his manager thinking the Knights are a joke of a club than anything that happened with his dad.
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Braith Anasta is his manager and semi politely insinuated on 360 that he won’t be coming to Newcastle anytime soon . No great loss if you ask me.
 
I honestly don’t know how you can watch Jonah Pezet be the most important *Melbourne Storm* spine player to a finals win and come to any conclusion other than: It’s a pretty ****ing massive loss and it absolutely sucks we couldn’t get him back. He absolutely looks like he’s going to be a very good to elite traditional #7 for a long time and that’s the easiest type of player to build a winning club around.

We have options to be more optimistic about in the halves than we have been in a long time but I can’t pretend getting Jonah wouldn’t have been the best outcome.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
I honestly don’t know how you can watch Jonah Pezet be the most important *Melbourne Storm* spine player to a finals win and come to any conclusion other than: It’s a pretty ****ing massive loss and it absolutely sucks we couldn’t get him back. He absolutely looks like he’s going to be a very good to elite traditional #7 for a long time and that’s the easiest type of player to build a winning club around.

We have options to be more optimistic about in the halves than we have been in a long time but I can’t pretend getting Jonah wouldn’t have been the best outcome.
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My take is *shrug* he didn't want to come, nothing we could do now to change that. Move on, nothing to see here.
 
Treadly said:
My take is *shrug* he didn't want to come, nothing we could do now to change that. Move on, nothing to see here.
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He never wanted to come and Anasta wouldn't let him cone to us anyway. Anasta joked on a podcast he would never let a client of his sign with us.

Isaac Moses 2.0 in the making, trying to manipulate the player market. The way he bangs on about Pezet (like all his clients) after every game they play on Fox is awful, just looking for a pay day.
 
listo said:
I’ve said in the past and will stick with it, if Ponga wants to go, no bad feelings and thanks for your services. He’s not irreplaceable anymore.
But with that said, if he does hang around, I agree with Harvee, I’m pretty keen to see what Holbrook can do with him.
It has been a long time since I’ve been excited about footy and the Knights, but I’m keen for the next couple of years now. If they respond to him, gee we have some players that can tear the opposition apart.
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Yehp. Agree.

A few years ago, it felt like the end of the world if Ponga left us. We desperately did everything to keep him.

Then we saw Armstrong play fullback for us. And do fullback things like support play and his performance I think showed/reminded a lot of us that we don’t need a hybrid fullback half for 1.2M - it’s a luxury.

Then Sharpe got a go at fullback and he’s now one of those players we are trying to fit into our team any way possible. Again, does basic fullback things but is sharp (yep) and electric and brings a spark to this team.

Don’t get me wrong, Ponga is a great player, and potentially one of the best in the game at the peak of his powers. We are fortunate to have him, we just need him to perform and stay fit. But, if he doesn’t want to be here - then I think we can say thanks for your service, didn’t quite work out, thanks for the memories and goodluck.

That said, I’m excited to see some fresh ideas with this team. If Holbrook can figure out a way to engage all of our key players and get the best out of them, we will be dangerous. I’ll be patient, I’m happy to set some low expectations for 2026 (I mean it has to be better than 2025, right?
 
Vagabond89 said:
He never wanted to come and Anasta wouldn't let him cone to us anyway. Anasta joked on a podcast he would never let a client of his sign with us.

Isaac Moses 2.0 in the making, trying to manipulate the player market. The way he bangs on about Pezet (like all his clients) after every game they play on Fox is awful, just looking for a pay day.
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Anasta's mouth and role in the media are really starting to bite him on the butt from the sounds of it.
 
Vagabond89 said:
He never wanted to come and Anasta wouldn't let him cone to us anyway. Anasta joked on a podcast he would never let a client of his sign with us.

Isaac Moses 2.0 in the making, trying to manipulate the player market. The way he bangs on about Pezet (like all his clients) after every game they play on Fox is awful, just looking for a pay day.
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I’m a little conflicted and I think my conclusion is - no hard feelings.
(but I’m still gonna hold onto ‘him being happy to play reserve grade for years instead of having a go’ to make me feel a bit better).

Sure, he rejected us. But, half (probably more) of this forum has rejected us this season. How many halves have we been through in the last few seasons? Think Pezet wanted to come here to a club with a stack of halves and enter the rotation?
I’m pretty critical of Anasta, something just irks me, but I don’t think I’d be advising he comes to Newcastle either with AOB in charge.

I’d be curious how we would go now (or midway through 2026), if we had of tried. I think they would be a bit more open to the idea, especially if we are looking better under Holbrook (or if we went with his other client Willie Peters).

He’s really been playing well for Melbourne and lucked into playing 7 in a finals series. Granted it could be a system like Penrith that gave Cogger a grand final medal and some stories to tell his kids while desperately hoping they never see his seasons at Newcastle. He is executing well. He reminds me a bit of Moses. Not sure why. He has a decent kick and looks like he could really kick on. He’s an exciting prospect nonetheless.

I just don’t think our timelines match up anymore.
I think we give Smith/sharpe/Brown the season to figure the best way to utilise them. By then I think Pezet knows if he’s staying at Melbourne or moving on.

In a crazy unlikely scenario, if Ponga wanted to leave, a spine of 1. Sharpe, 6. Brown, 7. Pezet, 9. Smith could be a very long term successful spine if it clicks. (Though I really hope 2026 Ponga can light it up again and deliver us some exciting footy).
 
It’s not outside the realms of possibility that Sandon becomes one of the good first grade halves a team would actually want, as opposed to the guy who’s the bridge to the one you want.

Hopefully though with one year in NSW Cup next year Hunter looks ready to be the full time back up half, and then you replace Gamble with another prospect rather than a guy who just is what he is.
 

Hey nice to see it's not just us.

Actually think there's a fair chance that the offer of Pezet to Souths was that it's an option for a permanent move in the back of his mind if Munster extends - Souths is a club he deems to be of an acceptable standard for his golden goose, the loan gives the Bunnies a nice try before they buy period. Very funny that the Dragons are a no-go because of how mean they were to Ilias, but the Rabbitohs who dumped Ilias to begin with are acceptable. Pretty clear it's about their idea of the standard of club, not "they're mean". The Bunnies have a better track record of recent success and they have Wayne. Simple as that.

To my mind this instantly makes Bulldogs, Roosters, Broncos all smokies to end up with him. If not Storm, Jonah wants a different top of the table and/or "glamour" club, clearly, and even though those clubs have gun junior spine talent, they have shown themselves to be ruthless outfits. Obviously Newy so far off that it's not funny.

But the Dogs were a graveyard only a few years ago.

The club wants to challenge perceptions? Win. Winning solves everything.
 
With all the talk about turbo moving on to England and knights supposedly having a discussion with a Sydney club that wasn’t the roosters I could see Ponga ending up at manly, apologies if I missed someone saying that
 
BETTERTHANLEGO said:
With all the talk about turbo moving on to England and knights supposedly having a discussion with a Sydney club that wasn’t the roosters I could see Ponga ending up at manly, apologies if I missed someone saying that
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Pretty sure that’s where he’s girlfriend is from too, so wouldn’t shock me. Especially if Green looks to be headed there as well.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
The roughest thing about that is that there literally isn't a single Manly player I'd want them to send back in return.
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Yeah they have similar issues to the Knights. Very good backline, nothing much in the way of middles (Taukeiaho was probably their best) and a gun back rower but we have one anyway.

Walsh and Navale are the ones you’d want to pinch but they’re young and can’t see them giving up their DCE replacement.
 
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