2026 Recruitment And Retention

I for one have always thought POS is fantastic, he has brought in a lot more players than anyone else would, a lot of potential. He still is recruiting for Newcastle which isn't an easy task, which may make some people think he has not performed well due to not being able to recruit absolutely everyone but that's a Newcastle issue. He also signed Brown for his insane price which many think was very poor, but I personally don't see that big of an issue with it, as long as he keeps performing for 8 years which can be hard with long contracts.
 
I'm stocked we signed Sandon but I really wish we had Pezet over Brown. I think Pezet and Smith would have been an awesome halves combination, young with and a lot of potential, Buuuuuut we didn't so here we are. I'm happy enough with the Brown signing but he needs a good 7 next to him taking all the pressure off of him.
 
Actually while I'm mentioning Pezet what actually happened between him and the Knights? I read something about his dad and the club not getting along but I know nothing about it
 
We need a crafty 9 for this spine to work.
Are the Broncos still letting Billy Walters go?
Wouldn't mind him as a hooker for a couple of years, he's playing some good footy ATM.
What would he be worth? He's 31.

1.Ponga
2.Gags
3.Sharpe
4.Best
5.Young
6.Brown
7.Smith
8.J.Saf
9.Walters
10.Saulo
11.Lucas
12.Friz (first 15min then McKewen)
13.Crossland

14.Gamble/Arthur
15.Mckewen
16.Mooney
17.Jones/Croker/Crouch
 
I don’t think I’d call Walters a crafty 9. He and Phoenix are quite similar players.

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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I’ve heard, not sure if it’s true, that AOB actually had something to do with Troy getting sacked 😂 if so it may have been somewhat personal…
 
JOJO82 said:
For the life of me I can't understand why some bag out POS
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He gave the biggest contract ever to a player lots of people think is flat out crap.

Like essentially his solution to the question of getting the best out of Ponga, and his answer to what a massive portion of the footy community sees as our #1 issue (Ponga is overrated and on too much money) is “hear me out… TWO Pongas.”

It’s legit one of the biggest recruitment swings any club has taken since we spent all that money to get Ponga for 2018.

It’s also started impacting the valuation of other players already, which is making people mad.
 
O'Brien always deflected every question about recruitment by saying he had nothing to do with it.
But the first appointment he made was his longterm friend Zammit as recruitment guy, and Zammit was never available because he lived in Qld.

My conspiracy theory is that O'Brien was 100% involved with all recruiting decisions and Zammit just did the paperwork.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
He gave the biggest contract ever to a player lots of people think is flat out crap.

Like essentially his solution to the question of getting the best out of Ponga, and his answer to what a massive portion of the footy community sees as our #1 issue (Ponga is overrated and on too much money) is “hear me out… TWO Pongas.”

It’s legit one of the biggest recruitment swings any club has taken since we spent all that money to get Ponga for 2018.

It’s also started impacting the valuation of other players already, which is making people mad.
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I think I will put my faith in the man that has built multiple successful rosters rather than listen to the opinions of people that have done nothing in the game.....

For the record that's not a dig at you or your post :D
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
He gave the biggest contract ever to a player lots of people think is flat out crap.

Like essentially his solution to the question of getting the best out of Ponga, and his answer to what a massive portion of the footy community sees as our #1 issue (Ponga is overrated and on too much money) is “hear me out… TWO Pongas.”

It’s legit one of the biggest recruitment swings any club has taken since we spent all that money to get Ponga for 2018.

It’s also started impacting the valuation of other players already, which is making people mad.
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For anyone that thinks Brown is flat out crap are incredibly stupid or just don’t know league, you don’t have to like the guy or the deal but to act like he is crap is a massive cop out for a international who has performed at that level.

To say Browns deal has inflated the market is also stupid, anyone with even the tiniest bit of foresight could tell you players were going to start getting more money as the sport evolves literally every sport does this LITERALLY all of them, you think football (soccer) started out with players grabbing $100k a week from the start of the sport.

Its basic business

Why do you think the league is pushing hard for expansion teams, pushing into markets like America, bringing the Ashes back? To bring it to the next tv deal to show they have more assets that people want to see and get more money out of that next deal (which they easily will) the cap will than move up from that, this will happen within the next 5 years.

If anything the Knights are trying to get ahead of the curve as they see it coming because unless you’re blind everyone can see it.

For now Browns contract is the biggest ever but in 5-6 years time will it be? Judging by reports Haas will be the first ever two million dollar player, which blows and the upward trajectory of the NRL as a juggernaut in Australian sport I doubt he will hold that distinction for a long time.

People talk about the years but 3 years after DCE’s “mega deal” no one really talked about it, league have a very tiny memory, Brown will get ridiculed heavily for the first year or two than people will realise it is what it is and move on to whatever is next, I mean these are the same “experts” that said Moses couldn’t be an elite level halfback as he just didn’t have “it” well for the first 3 years they were right but look at him now people are picking him over Cleary, but no one wants to mention that and hell Brown actually has more experience than Moses ever did at halfback considering he was LITERALLY a halfback but people don’t like to research.

People see Brown debut at 6 and believe that’s what he is despite him playing halfback in a jersey flegg grand final win against us years ago, being listened by his own club as a halfback, if Moses never made the switch to the Eels 3-4 years before Brown debuted than Brown debuts as a halfback this is facts, they moved him to five-eighth so they could keep Moses at halfback.

Hell, just go back to 2018 jersey flegg not only was he playing halfback he was a goal kicker as well and before 2018 he was the same playing halfback he is the biggest sufferer of what I call “first look syndrome” where you debut in a position so people instantly believe that’s your position
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
If there is any truth to the idea he’s specifically been recruited to play hooker, POS probably showed him clips like this to try to convince him: https://www.facebook.com/nrl/videos/what-a-play-from-sandon-smith-/6540727869296279/
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Awesome pass. The difference having someone at 9 with vision and the skill to execute it.

Brailey could play 9 for 100 years and would never throw that pass.

I really don’t think it can be overstated just how much the lack of talent in the spine has hindered everyone else in the team.

Having more talent there means we don’t just get their ability but they can get more out of KP, Best, Lucas, Sharpe, McEwen etc. Those players suffer due to the inadequacies of those the club has put in the most important positions
 
To be clear, I’m very happy we have a talent of Brown’s calibre on the books now, just presenting the alternate perspective. Those are the reasons. We are at the point where people genuinely think Dylan Brown is *bad*. It’s all nonsense if you ask me. Last year Luai was a cudgel to beat Brown with because the Panthers kept winning with Cleary out and the Eels sucked with Moses out. Somehow the fact Parra conceded twice as many points per game not something people factored in to why one team won more than the other.

I’ve actually always been an admirer of Brown as a player, but I have a serious weakness for players who are easy on the eyes in the way he is eg the stepping off both feet, some of the passes he throws (eg my favourite player to have never worn a Newy jersey is Shaun Johnson, and it’s him by a lot), so I’m not the most trustworthy judge on this front. 😂

I think I was the most vocal supporter of us going after him and overpaying him to get him through the door. Wouldn’t have gone as far as POS did but I was happy to go over a million and I wasn’t massively worried about whether he’s a 6 or 7. There’s plenty of precedent of teams winning a comp/contending with a top tier 6 and okay to good 7. I didn’t see it as an issue.

Personally, if I was in POS’ shoes, I would have walked away at roughly 7 million over 6 years. So what we got him for isn’t THAT far off honestly.

If I’ve soured on it at all it’s actually because I was kind of taking the club’s word for it about the degree of playmaking load Ponga and Sharpe could carry, and having seen the two of them play together I think they need a genuine organising 7 to function. But I mean at the end of the day if it’s just not working they will absolutely end up scrapping it and we’ve ended up with Sandon, who I genuinely rate, who can plug into whatever hole in the spine results from that. So whatever, I think it’ll figure itself out eventually.
 
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After the year we have had I’m quietly optimistic about next year.

- New coach, new ideas, new game plans.
- Massive upgrade on halves. Assuming we get Smith. Brown and Smith are huge inclusions to the squad.
- Bolstered forward stocks. The inclusion of Saulo and Mooney. Two solid FG’s. Big ceiling for Mooney. Saulo coming into his prime. Hopwood an exciting prospect.
- Strong back five at full strength.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
I agree. I think there’s better ways to achieve the same thing.

Listening to the Storm talk about theirs, it’s looking at how they cope under stress, lack of sleep, being uncomfortable and relying on one another.

for example: most people that do Kokoda speak of a similar effect. (I don’t know logistics, I think there’s a good/bad time to do it). You could almost turn it into an initiative or go overseas and help build shelters or some kind of “aid” initiative. I think it would be great PR, gets the team together away from distractions, train while there, and do some good in the world.

Back breaking, physical challenges that often lead to injury seems very silly when working with very well paid athletes.
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Guys also don’t want to let team mates down even if it means putting themselves at risk. Broncos were notorious for it as well, there were tales Petero would end up in hospital after frying his kidneys because the bloke shut out pain and just kept toiling on.
I’m amazed they haven’t been scraped considering the death of that young Manly player a few years back whose family took legal action at him being pushed.
Eventually we’ll see more situations if they’re not managed properly.
 
Roster management notes with the new coach:

- Ponga wanted Green. No idea how he’ll feel about Holbrook but feels notable given the constant speculation and uncertainty about his immediate and longterm future in Newcastle.
- Holbrook wasn’t a fan of Marzhew at the Titans.
- 2 players who played their best footy under Holbrook at the Titans are currently in the shop window, Fifita & Khan-Pereira. Both already being linked elsewhere but not done deals.
 
mullenmagic said:
Roster management notes with the new coach:

- Ponga wanted Green. No idea how he’ll feel about Holbrook but feels notable given the constant speculation and uncertainty about his immediate and longterm future in Newcastle.
- Holbrook wasn’t a fan of Marzhew at the Titans.
- 2 players who played their best footy under Holbrook at the Titans are currently in the shop window, Fifita & Khan-Pereira. Both already being linked elsewhere but not done deals.
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Who is the source Ponga wanted Green? 360?

Fifita is a talented bum. Stick with what we have.
 
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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