NRLW Recruitment & Retention Thread

Billy said:
Looking at multiple clubs is a good sign.
It should mean she is looking at all her options and hasn't made a decision to go to the Broncos.
I expect she will come back to the club with her best offer, and see if we want to match it.
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Yep and she is well within her rights to do that.
 
She’s been on contract with the Knights since she was 14. She’s entitled to see what her value is, cant blame her for that
 
Higgins picks up her mutual option for 2026.
Davison & Kirkpatrick extend until 2027.
Emily McArthur upgraded into development list with Mariah Brown ruled out for the year through injury.
U19's QLD Origin and Samoan International Ella-Jaye Harrison-Leaunoa has signed a three-year contract to join the NRLW Development list in 2026, followed by the top 24 in 2027 and 2028.

www.newcastleknights.com.au

Knights extend NRLW trio

The nib Newcastle Knights are pleased to announce NRLW players Olivia Higgins, Tiana Davison and Jules Kirkpatrick have all signed extensions to remain with the Club.
www.newcastleknights.com.au www.newcastleknights.com.au
 
2026 as it stands

Top 24:
1. Yasmin Clydsdale (2027)
2. Tiana Davison (2027)
3. Fane Finau (2027)
4. Grace Giampino (2026)
5. Olivia Higgins (2026)
6. Evie Jones (2027)
7. Simone Karpani (2027)
8. Jules Kirkpatrick (2027)
9. Stella Lewis (2028)
10. Evah McEwen (2027)
11. Joeli Morris (2026)
12. Shanice Parker (2028)
13. Tayla Predebon (2026)
14. Georgia Roche (2027)
15. Kayla Romaniuk (2026)
16. Keighley Simpson (2026)*
17. Tess Staines (2026)
18. Mercedez Taulelei-Siala (2026)
19. Bo Vette-Welsh (2027)
20. Tenika Willison (2027)
21. Sienna Yeo (2026)

Development:
Mariah Brown (top 24 2027)
Ella-Jaye Harrison-Leaunoa (top 24 2027-2028)
Emily McArthur (top 24 2027-2028)
Lucy Spain (top 24 2027)

Off-contract:
Leilani Ahsam, Sheridan Gallagher, Grace Kukutai, Leah Ollerton, Jesse Southwell, Viena Tinao, Lilly-Ann White

*Knights announced Simpson signed for 25/26, but saw her say after debuting that she was unsure of her future for next year so it's possible things have changed.

Think you can definitively put a line through Kukutai & Tinao. Probably Ahsam as well.
Doubt Gallagher is going anywhere but would’ve said the same about some others in the past 18 months.
I’d prefer Ollerton over both but with Morris & Jones as potential backup hookers and limited spots available she might get squeezed out.
White is young but not showing great signs. Don't think we would have been any worse with her at fullback instead of Vette-Welsh this season but not confident we would've been better either. Probably don't want to be using 2 rosters spots on them.
Who knows with Jesse. Last we heard the Knights were “growing in confidence” but that’s pretty vague and ambiguous.
 
Lara Pitt & Jo Barrett once again both pretty convinced Jesse is going to Brisbane. Say she’s already told another club that was in the mix that she’s made up her mind and won’t be joining them, and the Knights aren’t saying anything so “connecting the dots” they say it seems like she’s just waiting until the season finishes to announce the move.
 
mullenmagic said:
Lara Pitt & Jo Barrett once again both pretty convinced Jesse is going to Brisbane. Say she’s already told another club that was in the mix that she’s made up her mind and won’t be joining them, and the Knights aren’t saying anything so “connecting the dots” they say it seems like she’s just waiting until the season finishes to announce the move.
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So is there any actual substance to this or are they just assuming like they have been for weeks?
 
Only saw a short clip but they said it was connecting the dots. If she’s already made a decision as they claimed then it would make more sense to delay an announcement about her leaving than one about her re-signing.
 
The funny thing about Jesse going to a “big club” is that said club hasn’t won a comp since expansion. The two most dominant teams since expansion are actually the Knights and Roosters.

Pretty pathetic too, that they’re a foundation club and have the largest pool to draw from but can’t produce a half in all that time.

Added to that, the two big clubs have terrible stand alone attendances. Actually they’re all pretty bad except the Wahs but Brisbane getting less than 2000 in a capital city is pathetic.

Not sure what the NRL is trying to achieve. Why would anyone bother supporting the other clubs? TV ratings are awful too. Strange way to grow a sport
 

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So if the Knights were originally planning to play Portia Woodman this year (who wouldn’t have come cheap) and they’ve now lost Jesse, there must be some money to play with.

Why not try and get Woodman or similar for a year even. Having a Kiwi Fern would be great for the other girls to play and train with an elite athlete. Might help lessen the blow of Jesse leaving too. Give the Knights a star attraction

Also I don’t give a **** about contracts, go get CJ back. She can claim home sickness or whatever. We’ve been too nice, time to be a bit more ruthless
 
Scott Prince openly admitted that he called Tamika to see if she’d come back as one of his first moves when he got the job, nobody cares about tampering in the NRLW.

I agree, whatever job with the club or whatever we were lining up for Jesse, use that to bring CJ back.
 
From what I've been told with CJ the Knights' offer was only marginally less than what Cronulla offered, and all things equal probably would've been the smarter decision with the difference in cost of living (though I'd say she's probably not paying rent which negates that to some extent). Knights played chicken and she called their bluff, and then wouldn't budge after verbally agreeing with Cronulla when the Knights tried to salvage things with a bigger offer. She also then proceeded to get a season-ending injuring during training which became something the squad as a whole had an issue with, saying Jeffries was overworking them.

Based on those things I doubt she's overly keen to come back so soon, but the major life changes since then would probably help our chances.
 
mullenmagic said:
From what I've been told with CJ the Knights' offer was only marginally less than what Cronulla offered, and all things equal probably would've been the smarter decision with the difference in cost of living (though I'd say she's probably not paying rent which negates that to some extent). Knights played chicken and she called their bluff, and then wouldn't budge after verbally agreeing with Cronulla when the Knights tried to salvage things with a bigger offer. She also then proceeded to get a season-ending injuring during training which became something the squad as a whole had an issue with, saying Jeffries was overworking them.

Based on those things I doubt she's overly keen to come back so soon, but the major life changes since then would probably help our chances.
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lol bloody hell, who was the genius negotiating this deal at the time?

After losing Millie, she should’ve been locked down straight away. Don’t go trying to be cute with players you can’t afford to lose 🤦‍♀️
 
She lived with a group of girls who all got moved on in the lead up to her leaving which I'd say played a part. Moran was the closest and she was let go, Davison & Chester both signed elsewhere, Luschwitz was on a development deal and then wasn’t retained. I wouldn't go as far as to say bad blood based on what I've heard, but I'd say she thought "**** it, I've shown my loyalty by coming back for the inaugural season when all the other big name locals stayed away, i've already won comps here and now they're treating it like a business so I guess I'll do the same."

Again - there's now a baby involved and it's probably a better situation to be home surrounded by family year round so it's worth asking the question.
 
Newygirl said:
So if the Knights were originally planning to play Portia Woodman this year (who wouldn’t have come cheap) and they’ve now lost Jesse, there must be some money to play with.

Why not try and get Woodman or similar for a year even. Having a Kiwi Fern would be great for the other girls to play and train with an elite athlete. Might help lessen the blow of Jesse leaving too. Give the Knights a star attraction

Also I don’t give a **** about contracts, go get CJ back. She can claim home sickness or whatever. We’ve been too nice, time to be a bit more ruthless
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The trouble with the Knights letting players go isn’t because they are “nice”, but because they are “weak”.
 
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