Knights sign Sargent

[miccle]

Just heard it on 4BC. Searching for a link now...

 

[RABK]

Knights Take Proactive Lead in Future of Country Rep Player

Thursday, September 07, 2006 - Newcastle Knights

The Newcastle Knights today announced the signing of a three-year contract with Country Origin and former North Queensland Cowboys’ player Mitchell Sargent.

Chief Executive Ken Conway said the decision to appoint Sargent, whilst likely to cause mixed reaction, was a key strategic decision for the future of the Newcastle team.

“There are plenty of examples across the community of young people making the most out of a second chance. As a club and as a community we need to take a proactive approach to some of the broader societal issues affecting our players,” Conway said.

“The contract is subject to strict criteria governing ongoing counselling and stringent drug testing. We are very optimistic about Mitchell’s commitment to his future at the Club and we believe he will add significant value to our forward pack next season.

“The players, management and NRL are supportive of our initiative and we are sure Mitchell will prove his value during the 2007 season.

“Right now we are fully-focused on bringing home a Premiership for the City of Newcastle and we hope to see our supporters out in full force on Friday night as we begin our finals journey,” he said.

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/absolutenm/templates/mediareleases.asp?articleid=960&zoneid=1

 

[RABK]

Merge with my thread, it has the link.

 

[miccle]

Crap - just started a thread about this 1min before you, but you have the link. Mods can delete mine!

IMO it's a dangerous move by the club... can't say I agree with it.

 

[Scorpio30]

Odd....They didnt give Dane Tilse a second chance.

 

[Rocky Rabbit]

very interesting.
I rememebr Gallop saying they would have to look into alot of things before allowing him to re-sign e.g councelling and such

 

[Sir Biffo]

I think it's a good signing. If Sargeant was at basically any other NRL club he would have had his warning and right now be off scot free enjoying the off season.

Why wouldn't you want a Country rep in your team!

 

[Special K]

Crazy.

If your club catches you its sweet but if the NRL gets you for doing the same thing then its 2 years in the stand?

 

[Snoop]

Nice 'proactive' spin to the story from the Knights there. The truth is that they are losing Craig Smith, Davico is a shell of the prop he once was, Perry is inconsistent and Wooly's an 'honest' prop. They probably wish they never let Tilse go. I guess 'the line' lies somewhere between taking hard drugs and being accused of sexual assault.

 

[Raider_69]

team of f**king criminals aye bluesbreaker ;-)

 

[Disco]

geez i wish Jamie Lyon had just snorted some coke a few years back, a swift sacking by the eels ans bang manly could have gotten him instead of waiting

 

[Phillips]

sucked in newcastle ha ha ha ha ha ha, na na na na na na!

 

[I Bleed Green]

Odd....They didnt give Dane Tilse a second chance.

LOL! Exactly what I thought when I saw the title of the thread. Hypocrites!

Ah well, their loss, we'll gladly have the Great Dane.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Got no problem with that what-so-ever. Sargent is a good, hard player, and however stupid his actions were, he admitted it up-front when caught.

He was always gonna get picked up by someone. Good luck to him.

 

[keeney]

There is a big difference between Alleged sexual assault and a minor drugs offence. But it is still a little hypocritical. Easier to give a player a second chance when they're coming from another club.

 

[simostorm]

good signing IMO. Every one deserves a second chance.

 

[Wests is Best]

Interesting that Sargent moves on relatively unscathed. The real loser out of the whole situation was the Cowboys and their fans. Thats so wrong imo

 

[Charlie124]

The real loser out of the whole situation was the Cowboys and their fans.

Not really, if the Cowboys wanted to they could have kept it all under wraps and given him a warning/fine or whatever and still kept him. As much as I love Sarge as a character he isnt a great football player, he does his job and isnt a BAD player but he isnt a huge loss for us, im very glad to see someone gave him a second chance and i hope he does well at the knights. I dont think there will be any more trouble out of him and knights fans will probably be getting a player with a very focussed and determined attitude to redeem himself. good signing.

 

[grouch]

Newcastle is the drug-friendly club. O'Davis, Richards, McDougall are among the successfully rehabilitated.

 

[Nikki]

Wow... The Sarge and Smith (Brian) combination will be one I will be watching closely...