2026 Recruitment And Retention

It's weird that people should say that Taree = Newcastle or one of the south east Queensland teams... literally every Sydney club is closer to Taree than Brisbane or the Gold Coast is. Brisbane is about as far away from Taree as Canberra is.
 
Would be nice if Barnett came back and repaid the club for some of the **** he dished up while he was here last time but definitely not expecting it. Bronx suddenly needing a front rower seems a little to coincidental to me, so I’m assuming that’s where he’ll land
 
Madge gave him his origin debut so I’m sure they’d have a good relationship, I would love to get him though just make it short term and evaluate how he comes back from the acl.
 
I’d rather Frizzell for $600k then Barnett
I’m just not sure what the market for Barnett will be. Wait and see what it is. If it’s 500-600k then sure, not a cent more
 
R_A said:
I’d rather Frizzell for $600k then Barnett
I’m just not sure what the market for Barnett will be. Wait and see what it is. If it’s 500-600k then sure, not a cent more
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I highly doubt that. He’s an origin level prop. But the only doubt is after the ACL. He’s worth more than 600k. He will get offered 700 to 800k pretty sure.
 
I'd like to see Barnett back here. I have my doubts he wants to come back.

My impression was he left not with a great view of the club and at the Warriors really kicked on under their system.

My thinking is he sees returning to the Knights as a step backwards not forwards. I'm thinking a Sydney club nabs him.
 
With respect, he ain’t getting younger. 32 in April.

Somewhat concerning was how he did it, landing a bit awkwardly. Reinjury for non contact is much higher than traumatic. His probably leans more towards non contact. In saying that, the rehabilitation standards, milestones and procedures these players have is next level.

The timing of this announcement is interesting. Seems to be hoping to secure a contract before playing an NRL game this year. Which is a little risky given the injury. I figure he’d be hoping for 3 years. Think he probably gets 2 with a mutual or club option.

If there’s a bidding war, I’m okay with us offering what we think, leaving it on the table and stepping aside. We have locality on our side.

Dominos fall pretty quickly. We haven’t seen the end of the Haas domino chain.

I’d be disappointed if we didn’t give it a reasonable crack. Origin player. Local. Would be a great fit and add something to this squad. But won’t be too upset if we miss out, there will be somebody else up for grabs before the end of the season.
 
JOJO82 said:
Let's face it, he's gonna end up in Brisbane
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Maybe you're right, but he basically called Newcastle out in his interview saying the family I want to be close to is in Taree. I think we're the front runners, it's just up to POS to get the deal done now.
 
Most of the media is saying we are front runners. Would be a game changer if we can get him this year. Drop him into our pack and we look much stronger. So not only get it done POS but get it done this year! Please :-)
 
Just read that the Warriors are looking to get compensated with a player or two. Hopefully that's just if they're looking to do a swap this year. Hopefully they don't hold him back next year given the circumstances, as much as they're in their contractual rights to do so. Other teams might not be so keen to do a swap either knowing that Barnett needs a release, unless convenient (BJones).
 
frankLauda said:
Most of the media is saying we are front runners. Would be a game changer if we can get him this year. Drop him into our pack and we look much stronger. So not only get it done POS but get it done this year! Please :-)
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I think we have to release a few contracts to get him this year
 
Anyone else perturbed by the comments from media outlets overstating our losses. In the recent Gus Gould podcast Mat Thompson thought Jack Hetherington would be the signing of the season. Admittedly Gus only spoke well of Jack’s character, but I’ve seen other outlets harp on about how Thompson was a leading pack enforcer and KPP was the most athletic back rower in the comp. It’s like no one has watched them play in the last 2 years. They’d mostly go on to talk about how our pack had no go forward last year but never put two and two together.
Just wondered if anyone else had picked up on the disconnect between the commentary to date.
 
KriKri said:
Anyone else perturbed by the comments from media outlets overstating our losses. In the recent Gus Gould podcast Mat Thompson thought Jack Hetherington would be the signing of the season. Admittedly Gus only spoke well of Jack’s character, but I’ve seen other outlets harp on about how Thompson was a leading pack enforcer and KPP was the most athletic back rower in the comp. It’s like no one has watched them play in the last 2 years. They’d mostly go on to talk about how our pack had no go forward last year but never put two and two together.
Just wondered if anyone else had picked up on the disconnect between the commentary to date.
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Let’s just hope the coach is using all this noise as motivation for the team, similar to how Ricky Stuart rallied the Raiders last year, except hopefully we don’t choke when finals time comes around.
 
KriKri said:
Anyone else perturbed by the comments from media outlets overstating our losses. In the recent Gus Gould podcast Mat Thompson thought Jack Hetherington would be the signing of the season. Admittedly Gus only spoke well of Jack’s character, but I’ve seen other outlets harp on about how Thompson was a leading pack enforcer and KPP was the most athletic back rower in the comp. It’s like no one has watched them play in the last 2 years. They’d mostly go on to talk about how our pack had no go forward last year but never put two and two together.
Just wondered if anyone else had picked up on the disconnect between the commentary to date.
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The problem you have here is expecting actual analysis from the media rather than them just going with the prevailing narrative:

That is, Dogs = good, Gus = Genius, Knights = bad
 
I think Madge summed up the peanut gallery perfectly when asked about all the noise around his team during 2025.

Something to the effect of, blah blah blah, who cares.
 
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Joshhh said:
Just read that the Warriors are looking to get compensated with a player or two. Hopefully that's just if they're looking to do a swap this year. Hopefully they don't hold him back next year given the circumstances, as much as they're in their contractual rights to do so. Other teams might not be so keen to do a swap either knowing that Barnett needs a release, unless convenient (BJones).
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We’d really have to weigh up whether it’s worth signing current origin rep Barnett by releasing future origin rep Brodie Jones.
 
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