Recruitment And Retention Discussion

Les Misérables said:
Thought we'd already given him an offer and had just recently decided to 'include a ratchet' etc, and with that inclusion he was expected to re-sign.

Where'd the $700k insult figure come from?

If it’s remotely true it really brings into light the harm done by the Niukore contract - a player we don't even need, costing us players we can't afford to lose?
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Niukore has replaced Friz. We needed an experienced forward when he was signed.
We still need an experienced forward. Helps he is several years younger than Friz.
 
Les Misérables said:
Thought we'd already given him an offer and had just recently decided to 'include a ratchet' etc, and with that inclusion he was expected to re-sign.

Where'd the $700k insult figure come from?

If its remotely true it really brings into light the harm done by the Niukore contract - a player we don't even need, costing us players we can't afford to lose?
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Yeah never mind Ponga and Brown's $2.5m combined, or Schiller's and McCarthy's contracts, being unwanted by the club. It's Niukore's $600k that's completely detailing this roster.
 
I'm hopeful Niukore is coming here with a point to prove. He probably knows he is a great chance to be apart of the NRL side at Knights if he plays well, as opposed to beating out 3 current rep forwards coming off the bench for the Wahs.
 
Good Times said:
Yeah never mind Ponga and Brown's $2.5m combined, or Schiller's and McCarthy's contracts, being unwanted by the club. It's Niukore's $600k that's completely detailing this roster.
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Schiller was an acknowledged error they've been trying to and have since rectified, same can be said of McCarthy tbf they wanted him off the roster last year but he stayed.

The other two blokes you mentioned happen to be capable of delivering a premiership and while being expensive they're also crucial to the roster. Niukore is neither of those things.

Though it is totally valid that when we signed Niukore he was viewed as an essential, likely starting forward. Hindsight is an unfair tool of judgement. Hopefully he aims up when he arrives
 
Les Misérables said:
Schiller was an acknowledged error they've been trying to and have since rectified, same can be said of McCarthy tbf they wanted him off the roster last year but he stayed.

The other two blokes you mentioned happen to be capable of delivering a premiership and while being expensive they're also crucial to the roster. Niukore is neither of those things.

Though it is totally valid that when we signed Niukore he was viewed as an essential, likely starting forward. Hindsight is an unfair tool of judgement. Hopefully he aims up when he arrives
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I'd go the opposite way and say a forward like niukore is a forward we need a bigger body and mobile and it showed in the grandfinal we missed a bigger body to get out of our own end. Guys like pasmi and crouch are great workers but when we miss jsaf and Mooney that part really hurts us
 
Les Misérables said:
Schiller was an acknowledged error they've been trying to and have since rectified, same can be said of McCarthy tbf they wanted him off the roster last year but he stayed
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Acknowledged by who? Like Niukore's supposed contract value, it seems made up.

Schiller came to the club as a young outside back with potential looking for an opportunity; he got his shot it didn't work out. Not every player makes it at the NRL level. He can still make it as an NRL player, but it's looking like that maybe will be at another club if it happens. McCarthy is only 22 and was consistently one of the best in the Cup this year; calling time on his career at this stage is ludicrous.

Les Misérables said:
The other two blokes you mentioned happen to be capable of delivering a premiership and while being expensive they're also crucial to the roster. Niukore is neither of those things.
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Brown and Ponga aren't delivering any premierships without tough, aggressive middle forwards.

Give the bloke a chance.
 
Seano said:
Acknowledged by who? Like Niukore's supposed contract value, it seems made up.

Schiller came to the club as a young outside back with potential looking for an opportunity; he got his shot it didn't work out. Not every player makes it at the NRL level. He can still make it as an NRL player, but it's looking like that maybe will be at another club if it happens. McCarthy is only 22 and was consistently one of the best in the Cup this year; calling time on his career at this stage is ludicrous.


Brown and Ponga aren't delivering any premierships without tough, aggressive middle forwards.

Give the bloke a chance.
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Acknowledged by who? Acknowledged by the club itself. The club just got rid of him 2/3rds the way through his contract. Punted him to the Dragons.
 
The Gidley flick said:
I'd go the opposite way and say a forward like niukore is a forward we need a bigger body and mobile and it showed in the grandfinal we missed a bigger body to get out of our own end. Guys like pasmi and crouch are great workers but when we miss jsaf and Mooney that part really hurts us
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My sense is that POS settled for Niukore, in the end, because he offered a unique profile as a forward and the roster as it was could've found extra value in that given how young and shallow our pack was at the timeof the signing. So it makes sense.

Niukore plays everywhere from 3,4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13. And has been used off the bench for impact almost as often as he has started games.

He doesn't really offload the ball. Isn't a metre eater. Neither does he have a high work rate in defence. For those reasons he wouldn't make a good starting forward in our team imo. But he is very aggressive and could be used to great effect off the bench in certain games. He'll definitely be useful for us. I have no doubt about that. But I have very low confidence that we'll really ever see $600k of value from him
 
Les Misérables said:
Acknowledged by who? Acknowledged by the club itself.
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Where has the club said the signing of James Schiller was a mistake?

Les Misérables said:
The club just got rid of him 2/3rds the way through his contract. Punted him to the Dragons.
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He hasn't been punted anywhere.

You're once again drawing a long bow to justify your conclusions. You also don't know what Marta is on; the only thing confirmed by the club or any credible source was that he was signed for 3 seasons.
 
No player salary is ever "officially" public but Toohey reporting a figure for a Knights player is as close to that as it gets. Been reliable for 30+ years, don't know why he'd suddenly go rogue and invent one out of thin air for Niukore for no reason.

Seems like you're just purposely being obtuse about how all of this works because you don't want to believe what's been reported is true.
 
Which figure, the $600k figure or the $700k figure? And where's the claimed "admission" from the club that Schiller was a bad signing, or any critique of the comment that Schiller has been punted when he hasn't? It's made up.

And no, I'm not questioning Toohey's reporting. I'm questioning the narrative being pushed on Nuikore before he's even laced up a boot for the club.

PS. Don't have Twitter, so hard to search, but I can't find Toohey's comment on Marata's contract.
 
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Personally, I think we are judging a situation through the lens of today when the lens of when this decision was made was very different.

When the Noukore case servers made and accepted, Franicis had played less than 200 minutes for the Knights and was definitely not the prove. Gun that we have on our hands now. Also, I remember a lot of people saying McEwen was a good prospect but would tire through his first proper season in the NRL. An experienced 2RF made a lot of sense against that backdrop.

I can’t honestly say I know a lot about him but if he can come off the bench with energy and help us maintain momentum as a prop in those middle minutes then he’s worth his money. If not then I would hope that the new POS will share his straight talking attributes to ship him on so we can re-distribute most of his salary to others who will play a bigger role in our success!

Warming: Post written after after a bottle of wine and a few beers so I apologise for any typos or random utterances! 🤣
 
My one time watching Nuikore play, in the semi final of reserve grade, I thought he looked very impressive when he had a run - he is a big, powerful guy. The problem was he only had a few runs.
If we can get him to go hard for 20 or 30 minutes, he is an upgrade on Saulo, or should be.
 
I would guess Niukore was signed before the current crop of 'unkown' forwards showed their potential. At the start of the year it would have been difficult to see that Hopwood, Crouch, Mooney, McEwen, Francis and even Saulo all become regular first graders who will only improve. It would be difficult to foresee all of these players cementing first grade spots this time last year and I'm pretty sure most Knights supporters would have thought after losing KPP and Leo that we would struggle.
 
Niukore was signed when our fwd stocks where low, how much he was signed for doesn’t matter now, it’s deal done, and his value for money will be shown when he gets on the field, I hope for Knights sake he does well.
Our improved fwds stock has improved over 2026 with Francis, McEwen, Mooney, Hopwood and Crouch performing very well and along with JSaf and Lucas it’s a very strong pack adding Saulo and Croker will mean Niukore will have to be strong to make bench.
Speculation on signing on fee and his ability change nothing let’s wait and see how he goes.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Niukore was signed when our fwd stocks where low, how much he was signed for doesn’t matter now, it’s deal done, and his value for money will be shown when he gets on the field, I hope for Knights sake he does well.
Our improved fwds stock has improved over 2026 with Francis, McEwen, Mooney, Hopwood and Crouch performing very well and along with JSaf and Lucas it’s a very strong pack adding Saulo and Croker will mean Niukore will have to be strong to make bench.
Speculation on signing on fee and his ability change nothing let’s wait and see how he goes.
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This.
While the signing is much more debatable now. At the time of the signing we had a small handful of proven forwards.

No use crying over spilt milk. Let him run out for us next year, have a dig. We have enough young forwards to cover his position should it not work out or be upto expectations, while we work on a release (hopefully 🤣)
 
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