Jackson Hastings

I'm happy with us getting Hastings. We need a halfback to give some sort of direction and made a difference to the Tigers during that middle part of the year when was at 7.

Klemmer was great for us but I had the feeling he was going to leave us ever since that argument with Hayden Knowles. Hopefully the Saifiti bros, Hetherington, Thompson, Croker and Elliott all step up in the middle now with Klem gone.
 
A sad day to see Klemmer leave but gaining Hastings I can live with it. He should be able to run the show in a way that we've been looking for since Pearce. And dodged Brooks who looked to be inevitably coming.

I think the Saifitis will be in for bigger years just simply because they will get the ball more being the main guys, no Klem calling for the ball anymore. More ball, more involvement.

Would have preferred to let Frizell go, but I can see why they didn't, who's going to play second-row if we let Friz walk?
 
Klem had his best year at the club this year yet there was still significant daylight between the value he provided to the team and his actual contract value.

Sad to see him go because he seems like a nice bloke and he is a good player but only 12 months ago the twins were embarrassing him and rightly had him shafted to the bench. Recency bias or indeed another bias appears to be strong in some comments on his time here.

Hastings is the halfback we haven't had for years, no one needs to pretend he's the best halfback in the competition but he's a genuine halfback which is exactly what we need. Overall a bittersweet piece of news but a good decision from the club.
 
The fact we’ve already moved onto talking about how good Leniu is and what a great get he’d be kind of tells you all you need to know about the Klem vs Jacko comparison.

We’re not comparing players in a vacuum, we’re comparing the position where there’s the most really good players (middle forward) vs the one where there’s the fewest (halfback).

And yeah it’s Klemmer who had to go because that’s how this sort of compromise works. I would have loved to release Lachie Fitz instead but it needs to be someone the other team actually wants.

Klemmer leaves? Maybe we can get Leniu, he’s a gun (and I’m sure we can think of other names).

We fail to get Hastings? Oh no. ****. Well now what do we do?
 
The season was dead in the water if we went in with Gamble and Clune in the halves, and even Ponga and Gamble in the halves, I think. Klemmer was great but he wasn’t going to get us out of spoon territory.

Definitely a necessary evil letting him go, imo. I’m optimistic about the 2023 season for the first time … we might not make the eight but it should be an improvement on 2022.
 
I feel deeply relieved that we are signing Hastings, I now have hope we will be competitive next year. I was dreading next season if we didn’t sign a decent halfback.

I’m sorry to see Klemmer go but I agree with the swap deal. I hope Klem settles in Valentine when his career is over.
 
Joshhh said:
A sad day to see Klemmer leave but gaining Hastings I can live with it. He should be able to run the show in a way that we've been looking for since Pearce. And dodged Brooks who looked to be inevitably coming.
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I remember there were rumours swirling that we were close to signing Klemmer before it was officially announced. I was on holiday in Morocco checking this and the other knights forum constantly. Had just sat through a few years of waking up at ungodly hours to watch us lose every week live while living in Europe.

After the way Ponga took the league by storm his first year, the Klemmer signing felt like the next big domino to make us a real contender. Obviously never quite worked out that way, but overall Klem has done a really good job up here. I think the Jackson swap is a net positive for our team next year, but I'll be sad to see Klem leave.
 
So we've got millions to spend under the cap...

Why aren't we or why haven't we been targeting some big names? Is the club under the impression that our next premiership is only a handful of orher clubs mid tier rejects away ?
 
A guy who seems well regarded and respected on the Tigers forum said:

Hastings has scored himself a hefty pay rise with the Knights.
Once it was clear that Brooks wasn’t going to be released for 2023 Knights changed focus.
Sheens met with Hastings management & made the point very clear that his future was at 13.
It moved fast from there.
The hope is to build a forward pack that Brooks can actually play off.
Bateman deal will be finalised in the week but he will be here.
Very early talk for Brooks but the club would hope to present a restructured deal for 2 year extension but a reduced rate.

Very important meeting with Moses management next week where a formal offer is expected to be presented.

Matamua expected to be elevated to top 30.
 
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