Newcastle board member Michael Hill says privatisation is an option the Knights have to at least consider if the club is to become a major force again.
Hill said if the Knights didn't consider several possible strategies they would sit back in the pack of NRL clubs.
The former Knights chairman, who stood down from that position before last night's annual general meeting but who was re-elected a board member, indicated privatisation wasn't necessarily his favourite option.
But in an interview published in today's Newcastle Herald he discussed Newcastle's financial dilemma and said the club owed it to the Knights' fans to examine every way to solve the problem.
Asked whether it was time for privatisation, Hill replied: "During my time as chairman I had a public stand against privatisation. What I'm saying, though, is that given where we are, and for how long we've been surviving, it's my view that survival in itself is not enough. We'll slip further and further behind, and it's not for us to limp along the bottom.
"Our supporters expect more and our supporters are the lifeblood, anyway, because they pay through the gate. What that more is, or what it could be, is not for me to say.
"But what I'm saying is that the board has no alternative other than to examine all those options, take advice, look at the different things that could be done with an open mind, then come back to their members and discuss it."
Hill's comments are interesting as another Newcastle board member - former Knights captain Paul Harragon - was quoted in a story last Saturday as opposing privatisation. "And I would not expect it to be on the agenda," Harragon said. "We are looking at new people and new ideas, not privatisation."
Hill was re-elected to the board along with Michael Tyler, Allan McKeown and Harragon. Ron Robson was also elected and Peter Corcoran stood but missed out. Mike Nesbitt did not stand for re-election. Tyler was elected chairman and Corcoran deputy chairman, while Hill received life membership of the club at the meeting.
Newcastle have walked a financial tightrope since they were admitted to the competition in 1988. They have never had the financial backing of a leagues club and have survived on sponsorship, gate receipts, competition prizemoney and the sale of merchandise. They have clawed their way out of tight financial corners before but now face their biggest financial challenge.
The Knights have not found a replacement for the $575,000-a- year QantasLink deal which ended last year.
Newcastle, who have lost all three of their games this season, missed the finals last year for the first time since 1996, which contributed to an operating loss for the year.
Apart from their sponsorship problems, merchandise sales are down and they are still waiting to start playing home games again after the construction of a State Government-funded grandstand on the eastern side of EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Newcastle's financial situation has made it increasingly difficult for the club to retain promising junior players coming through below the first-grade squad.
Other clubs have been able to offer youngsters more money than the Knights could hope to pay them to stay, meaning Newcastle have lost players they would have liked to have kept.
Among those who slipped through the net were Anthony Tupou, Paul Franze and Greg Bird, who are now playing first grade for Sydney Roosters, Penrith and Cronulla respectively.
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