Newcastle struck a major blow in the player market on Friday when they landed Dane Gagai — and they are far from finished.
Weekend Read understands the Knights are on the verge of retaining Lachlan Fitzgibbon for a further two years and have planned talks with utility Connor Watson for next week.
Fitzgibbon’s retention in particular saves the Knights a headache or two. He was dropped this week by coach Adam O’Brien and his manager Chris Orr had gone to market to explore whether he had any options in the NRL.
The response was apparently lukewarm. Yet Fitzgibbon was regarded as important signing for Newcastle for several reasons. One, he is a solid player who has been part of their squad for several years now.
Crucially, he was also a key retention because of his family’s longstanding relationship with the club. Fitzgibbon’s father Mark is the managing director of the club’s major sponsor, NIB.
He is also a former Newcastle board member and NIB’s support of the club is crucial to its financial success and stability. Talks with Lachlan were notably sensitive but the parties appear to have reached a palatable conclusion, much to the relief no doubt of Fitzgibbon and the Knights.
As for Watson, he made no secret of his disappointment with Newcastle’s original offer. He had begun personally calling coaches at other clubs to see if there were alternative options.
However, he is expected to sit down with the Knights later this week to thrash out a deal. Again, Watson’s future is a sensitive issue for the Knights. He is a quality player and a popular figure with supporters. He also has a close relationship with their biggest star — Kalyn Ponga.
Hence, the Knights desire to return to the table to try to strike a deal, having strengthened their ranks with the signing of Gagai for the next three seasons.
Gagai was in the sights of a handful of clubs but the Knights won the day with a lucrative contract and an opportunity to play a role in their work in the indigenous community.
Gagai informed Souths coach Wayne Bennett of his plans on the team bus on Friday, a blow not just to the Rabbitohs but also to their coach.
It was also a setback for the Brisbane Broncos, although Weekend Read understands they never got to the point of tabling an official offer to Gagai.
Despite the churn in their squad — big-money players Tevita Pangai Junior and Matt Lodge are among those who have already parted ways this season — they still didn’t have enough spare cash to make Gagai a suitable offer.
That left the Knights in the box seat and they swooped. As for Bennett, he is expected to join the 17th team as coach when it comes into the competition — either in 2023 or 2024 — and Gagai was a potential target. Not any more.
“He spent a lot of his career at Newcastle and he has some family there, I think he’s pretty happy to be going back.
I think he’s playing his best football at the moment. Each year I’ve been here he’s gotten better. When he left the Broncos they told him to leave. They had a whole lot of issues with him, they said, but honest to God I have never seen any of those issues," Bennett said.
I have never had a moment’s confrontation with him, nor has he ever been late for anything. He is a real pleasure to coach.”
