The Jesse Ramien departure from Newcastle was brought to a head when coach Nathan Brown approached the Knights centre at training on Wednesday.
Brown told Ramien if he was unhappy at the club and wanted to seek an immediate release then Newcastle head of football Brian Canavan could make that happen.
Ramien replied by telling Brown he wanted to take up his offer and as quick as that the NRL open market had a gun centre for hire.
The background is this flash point moment had been brewing for some months with Ramien struggling to make the transition from strike centre at Cronulla to strike centre at Newcastle.
Part of Ramien’s gripe was centred around the Knights propensity to play primarily left side attack, where Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga share a lethal combination.
Privately, Ramien was asking questions about why he couldn’t get more early ball.
The Knights were made aware of the issue a couple of months back and sat down for a meeting where everyone agreed they wanted to get Ramien more involved.
Then the Knights went on a six-match winning roll and as the saying goes, winning fixes everything.
All of a sudden the lack of opportunities for Ramien had been resolved.
Now, with Newcastle having lost four games straight and dropping out of the eight, coach Brown has opted to wield the axe with Ramien was one of four players punted.
With no reserve grade fixture for the Knights this weekend, the centre’s axing went down like a lead balloon.
So coach Brown opted to front Ramien and give him the option to leave, which has now been granted.
At least half a dozen rival clubs have already begun circling.
The immediate release is expected to be granted once Ramien finds a new club.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...r/news-story/25f090e1d338c8e10f1770873f72620d
