Knights land Peter O'Sullivan

[Celticman98]

I actually don’t think it’s far off what the Knights did when they first entered the league. I’m pretty sure in the early years when Allan McMahon was coach, David Waite had juniors all learning the same systems, structures, and training the same way across the club.

Look at 2001 and you could say it was quite similar to Penrith for that generation of players that came through.

Unfortunately I think things went off the rails after that first season under Hagan, the production line seemed to totally die. Wrong decisions started being made on who to retain. Some super average players came into first grade. Can’t have helped that we were pretty much bankrupt for most of the 00s.

David Waite, listened to his podcast with Barry Toohey a few years ago and had a great understanding for pathways and junior development.

Our next head coach hopefully eg Morris or Peters or anyone half competent should reach out to him as soon as they're given the job. AOB would never do something like this.

 

[Sarge]

David Waite, listened to his podcast with Barry Toohey a few years ago and had a great understanding for pathways and junior development.

Our next head coach hopefully eg Morris or Peters or anyone half competent should reach out to him as soon as they're given the job. AOB would never do something like this.

100% . Met him when the knights kicked off . From memory was he not the Australian schoolboys coach before he became the knights first reserve grade coach . Ran into him a few years later around the time he signed Adrian Brunker who was an elite school kid . Can't remember his exact words but it was a very small % of elite school kid will turn into regular 1st graders . Like trying to find a needle in a haystack . Was a different game 30 years ago though . Most of the player had jobs as well .

 

[slotmachine]

What sort of players tend to come from our region? What do they tend to be naturally good at?

I don't know if it's a case of prioritising this type of player or it's naturally the type of player that comes from the region, but I'd say "workers" that try hard but don't offer much impact.

Doesn't help that the hunter lacks a large Pasifika and Polynesian community like Sydney/NZ/SE QLD.

 

[Billy]

Nevertheless, as Billy has always maintained - the only road to success for Newcastle is internal development.

I've put a lot of thought into where our most successful and loyal players come from over the years, and it seems pretty clear to me that the guys who like the town and our "culture" are almost all "country" boys - many from here - but we have guys like Elliott, Lucus and McCarthy for Wollongong/South coast and guys like Gagai and Paul from Mackay in Qld etc etc.
This always comes across as an attack on Kiwis, but the biggest group of juniors we bring in are Kiwis, and so many years they are some of our very best young players, but very, very few of them stick around. Even the ones who become quality NRL players take the first offer they get from a "city" club. The same applies for guys from Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne.
I don't know what the current stats say, but I saw stats years ago that said about 60% of players who played State of Origin for NSW were from country areas (Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Central Coast, Western NSW, North Coast - all strong areas for development).
I am 100% sure that the reason Canberra signs so many of our juniors is that they target country players, with a lot of success.

In short, we should spend our development dollars on kids from NSW country areas and maybe a few country boys from Qld - Ponga, Gagai, Bryan, Mann etc.

Guys from New Zealand, England, Sydney, Brisbane all have tickets for the first available bus out of town from the minute they arrive here. We spend money to develop them, so they can sign somewhere else.

 

[Chaister]

Doesn't help that the hunter lacks a large Pasifika and Polynesian community like Sydney/NZ/SE QLD.

I think this is a huge issue that doesn’t get spoken about nearly enough.

We hear constantly that due to the size of the Knights catchment area we should have the best junior system in the game, but people don’t acknowledge that just due to our area’s demographics of being regional, the physical make up of the bulk of our kids just aren’t compatible with the modern game. Most of our catchment is made up of kids lacking in the size, strength and natural athleticism of kids from Polynesian and Pacific backgrounds.

What we need to be better at is identifying the best young kids all over the country and beyond and bringing them into our system. That’s something I think POS will be helpful in given his history. It’s something we’re obviously starting to do, but need to do more of it.

 

[Billy]

Newcastle has the largest pacifica population outside a capital city.
When players like the 4 Tupou brothers, the 4 Mata'utia brothers, the 3 Wilson brothers, the 2 Tuafua, the 2 Pangai brothers, were all in our junior system over about a 7 year period, you'd go to a day where several junior teams were playing and the stands were full of up to 500 pacifica faces.
I remember a game when Anthony Tupou had just played for Australia and he showed up to watch younger brother Ben play SG Ball, and so many kids flocked around him it was like he was one of the Beatles.
We have somehow lost the local pacifica community - guys like Payne Haas never even looked at the knights, despite having two uncles who went through the Knights system (Mark and Larry Taufua).

 

[HarVeeGee13]

Yeah there are absolutely plenty of elite “country” forwards. Plenty are white, but there are also Indigenous and Pasifika ones. I don’t think we have an excuse there. They overwhelmingly end up playing for Canberra & have a loyalty to them they don’t to us. Which means we’re doing something wrong and they’re doing something right. It’s a bitter pill we have to swallow.

They likely have the two best props in NSW Cup right now. One of them is Pasami Saulo who on 2025 form is probably better than Croker and Jones. Zac Hosking is there too and bounces between grades. We have real depth issues and we just let handy depth players leave for no reason.

You know who also has a lot of incredibly elite “country” players? Including arguably the best middle forward of the 21st century? Who’s a white guy? Penrith!

 

[OnTilt]

For years it seems like we have been happy to let players walk because we have a slightly better prospect developing but a few years younger.. it feels like we are forever chasing our tails however as it seems like we are always a few years away from having capable replacements for first grade.. guys like King, Hosking, Psaulo, Kiraz, Meaney.

 

[Oliver]

1. Ponga
2. Kiraz
3. Gagai
4. Best
5. Young
6. Sharpe
7. Clune
8. Barnett
9. Watson
10. Tapine
11. Frizell
12. Lucas
13. Mann

14. Starling
15. D Safiti
16. J Safiti
17. King

Good team until you look at the halves.

 

[KPGreatness]

1. Ponga
2. Kiraz
3. Gagai
4. Best
5. Young
6. Sharpe
7. Clune
8. Barnett
9. Watson
10. Tapine
11. Frizell
12. Lucas
13. Mann

14. Starling
15. D Safiti
16. J Safiti
17. King

Good team until you look at the halves.

I’d take Clune back in a heartbeat as a back up, he is a lot better than Cogs, he had a lot more pace than him aswell, I still remember the game against Cronulla, they were rushing our attack and we had no room to move so he gets it, kicks in the behind and runs for it and I believe he got a line drop, for the rest of the game the Sharks didn’t rush up and it allowed us to play.

Cogs literally could never do that

He also had a mad combination building where he would dig in the line and lay it to best close to the line.

To me he is so much better than Cogs and would be a better back up half than Cogs, not sure about now as it’s been awhile but damn you don’t know what you had until it’s gone.

Now we have Cogger…

 

[HarVeeGee13]

Having a stable development situation with mostly internally developed (hint: less costly) players tends to mean you have more cap space for slotting in free agents to positions of need though. Leaving salary cap suspicion aside, this is essentially the Roosters model. Basically the Raiders one too but they do a twist on it where they hoover up junior rep spine players from other clubs who are, essentially, the ones who aren’t as good as what are regarded the best prospects at those clubs (eg Ethans Strange and Sanders, Kaeo Weekes). Mainly by necessity because they can’t ever recruit established marquee players. But it seems to be working out for them.

 

[Newygirl]

What sort of players tend to come from our region? What do they tend to be naturally good at? Has anyone ever really asked that question? Or do we just every year copy what other teams are doing and hope it works for us?

I don’t know but I would bet anything nobody at the club has thought about it that deeply.

The last recruitment guy didn’t even live here so he’d have no idea.

I do wonder if the lack of Pacific Islanders in the region is an issue. Conversely, Newcastle does have a pretty big indigenous population yet the Awabakal Group has a junior pathways partnership with the bloody Wests Tigers not the Knights.

The Roosters even have an Indigenous Academy team in the women’s junior comp and I’d bet there’s plenty of players in it from around here.

A tonne of players in the NRL and NRLW come from the Central Coast. It’s Roosters territory now but the club should have eyes all over that area.

 

[Wicket]

I don’t know but I would bet anything nobody at the club has thought about it that deeply.

The last recruitment guy didn’t even live here so he’d have no idea.

I do wonder if the lack of Pacific Islanders in the region is an issue. Conversely, Newcastle does have a pretty big indigenous population yet the Awabakal Group has a junior pathways partnership with the bloody Wests Tigers not the Knights.

The Roosters even have an Indigenous Academy team in the women’s junior comp and I’d bet there’s plenty of players in it from around here.

A tonne of players in the NRL and NRLW come from the Central Coast. It’s Roosters territory now but the club should have eyes all over that area.

100% agree we should have pathways etc in those areas.

I just think due to us being broke for so long, other clubs saw the opportunity and took over those areas and pathways

The lack of money and resources over the years, has really ruined a lot for us

 

[Billy]

So second season in charge of the roster for POS.
The turnover in the lower grades has been crazy.
We don't really know the full list, but we are bringing in juniors from ESL, NZ Union, Qld, Sydney.

In firstgrade, the signings of Dylan Brown, Sandon Smith, Saulo, Young and Mooney all look set to transform our 2026 side.

There are plenty of guys he gave a chance to who didn't work out - Annan, Hoad twins, Williams, Mitch Henderson, Teague and a heap more - some who only got 2 or 3 games and have been forgotten already.

My impression is he targets guys with outstanding athletic abilities from anywhere he can find them and backs our coaching staff to develop them into League players.

I don't know if I love watching Flegg and reserve grade churn through 50 players each a season and see new players every week - often looking like they have never played the game before, but it does at least seem to be a plan to find some top players of the future.

 

[Brad tighe]

So second season in charge of the roster for POS.
The turnover in the lower grades has been crazy.
We don't really know the full list, but we are bringing in juniors from ESL, NZ Union, Qld, Sydney.

In firstgrade, the signings of Dylan Brown, Sandon Smith, Saulo, Young and Mooney all look set to transform our 2026 side.

There are plenty of guys he gave a chance to who didn't work out - Annan, Hoad twins, Williams, Mitch Henderson, Teague and a heap more - some who only got 2 or 3 games and have been forgotten already.

My impression is he targets guys with outstanding athletic abilities from anywhere he can find them and backs our coaching staff to develop them into League players.

I don't know if I love watching Flegg and reserve grade churn through 50 players each a season and see new players every week - often looking like they have never played the game before, but it does at least seem to be a plan to find some top players of the future.

I can tell you the investment wests have made in the junior catchment has been significant and it will set this club up for ongoing success. Some of the kids we have picked up for ball and flegg are generational talents. POS has his knockers but he has done the best job anyone has done for decades.

 

[Billy]

The footage of the young people who did the life skills tech course put up on the site today has them all holding up certificates with their names on them.
I only recognise about 4 names - Sione H for Matts last year, Ty Ennis for AJ Cup, Tom Perkins the NZ Union prop, Brooklyn Davico who should have a big year in Tarsha Gale.
Heaps of new players.

 

[mullenmagic]

Kingston Seve top left not holding one up
Ty Ennis has his arm around Kyron Nixon-Croaker, played a bit of Harold Matts this year
Mel Nonu, new signing from the Dolphins directly behind them
Second to Nonu's left (our right) is Tallan Egan
Haukinima far back right with the long hair
Perkins the giant kneeling second from the right
Girl next to Perkins is Shikynah Pearson, played LFC this year

 

[Billy]

Seve is a big guy for his age - for any age really

 

[mullenmagic]

Few more faces to names

Left one in the far back is Devante Hurrell-Epati, new middle forward signing from NZ.
Not certain but the one between him and Haukinima could be another signing from NZ named Lennox Easthope.
Right of Egan is Beau Morrison, the signing from Huddersfield and son of Glenn Morrison.

 

[Newygirl]

Jesus, I don’t think anyone could accuse POS of not being a hard worker. How many juniors as he brought to the club since he arrived. He seems to be bringing them in by the truckload