Rumoured targets 2

[Yosh]

Kasiano and Kennedy. I'd take both of them on reasonable contracts. 2 years like Stone.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Kasiano will be on dynamite dollars and Kennedy is useless.

 

[aqua_duck]

Kasiano was out of favour when they had Fifita, but there's no reason for them to shed him now. Just on Kasiano he apparently doesn't mind abit of KFC and a few cans of Woodstock and cola

 

[Knight Vision]

Kasiano was out of favour when they had Fifita, but there's no reason for them to shed him now. Just on Kasiano he apparently doesn't mind abit of KFC and a few cans of Woodstock and cola

He should fit right in with our current stock of players apparently

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Maybe we'll convince Dan Tolar to come back out of retirement!

 

[Spot On]

McKendry extends his stay at Penrith for 3 more years.

 

[perverse]

Well, that's a bit poopy.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Maybe we'll convince Dan Tolar to come back out of retirement!

No way, let's go after this Knights legend.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

No way, let's go after this Knights legend.

I never understood the hate for this bloke...

I hold nothing against BSmith for kicking him, but i thought he was worth keeping.

 

[Rod]

Part of it is because he was ludicrously overhyped when we signed him. We lost BK and Tahu that off-season and signed Reynoldson. I remember he was one of the guys on the cover of the RLW preview edition for the 2005 season with other big signings like Thurston :lol:.

 

[Whats Doing]

Broncos forum is saying that young Jacob Gagai has quit the knights and in talks with them.

Only rumour but concern considering they are leading the comp.

 

[Wato]

He has not been in the first choice 17 for about 2 months. Feeney, Cogger and Lamb are all ahead of him in the halves and at fullback his behind Soine, Mamo and probably Donovan too. It's understandable that he would wish to return home.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

I never understood the hate for this bloke...

I hold nothing against BSmith for kicking him, but i thought he was worth keeping.

I think the hate he copped was over the top. I think the major issue was that he was signed on 270K? Correct me if I'm wrong. At the time it sounded like BK could have been signed for 50K more than that figure. So the hate towards him was a result of people wanting to sign Kennedy instead. However part of the issue happened as Johns was tossing up whether to go to union and that resulted in delaying us signing Kennedy.

Reynoldson received a number of injuries whilst he was here and that clearly affected his form. There was a period there where he strung a fair few games together and was looking pretty good, but that ended once he started getting regular injuries.

 

[aqua_duck]

Didn't help that he sued the club

 

[Newie is God's Country]

BK was prepared to take a pay cut to stay here. The club treated him poorly despite his injury record.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Didn't help that he sued the club

I can't believe I forgot about that. He went from club man of the year to suing the club. Oh the irony.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

So there are reports that kasiano is going for an early release and the dragons are in talks with him.

If we don't even come in with an offer that will do me.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Have you seen Dogzilla's play of late? You don't go in for a player out of desperation. What if for example we had the chance to snare a better player and missed him cos we had Kasiano on the books for overs? Just on Big Sam There was a belief he was ours for 2013 but we pulled the offer. He was all but signed.

All I am saying CH is maybe the Tariq signing is the blueprint we should follow. Back the kids coming through and sign very good players in the positions we struggle with. We need to adopt Gould's philosophy. A deep strong squad of very competent first graders who play well as a team. Soward has been a revelation this year. No getting around it. When he is happy he is dangerous. I think Mullen's biggest flaw is he wants to be the nice guy. He needs to find his arrogance.

We should be still keeping open dialogue with Hannant. I just doubt his desire to leave Qld. He did himself no favours by leaving the Bulldogs early. It means his options are limited as he may be seen as a risk to walk out on another deal if the Broncos or Titans come up short offer wise.

 

[Still Nutty]

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2510230/stone-wants-to-hang-on-to-young-prop-sam-mataora/

INCOMING Knights coach Rick Stone hopes prop Sam Mataora is selected in the NRL squad in the final two games of the season to enhance his chances of earning a new contract.

The 23-year-old Cook Islands international scored a try in an impressive performance in Newcastle’s 42-18 NSW Cup victory over Manly at No.2 Sportsground yesterday, giving the Knights an opportunity to secure a top-four berth with one round remaining.

Mataora, who joined the Knights from Canberra before the June 30 transfer deadline, is also on Brisbane’s radar, sparking media speculation of a tug of war between Newcastle and soon-to-be former coach Wayne Bennett for his services.

The Newcastle Herald has been told the Broncos had already expressed interest in Mataora before he left the Raiders to join the Knights, but that will do little to silence anyone who wants to suggest Bennett wants to take a Newcastle player back to Brisbane with him.

The Knights have made Mataora an offer, understood to be for two seasons, but he indicated after yesterday’s win that he was undecided about his future.

‘‘When I first came here, I didn’t know anyone but I’ve pretty much settled in now. It’s a good spot and I’m fitting in with the boys,’’ Mataora told the Herald.

‘‘I’m just waiting for my manager to get back to me.

‘‘I’ve got a family back home in Canberra – I’ve got a little four-month-old girl – and I’m not sure if they want to move up here or stay there.

‘‘I’d be happy to stay here. It’s a good spot. I’m just at Merewether there, so I’m pretty much at the beach every day.’’

Born in Rarotonga, Mataora said he moved to Brisbane with his family when he was 11 and graduated to the Raiders’ senior ranks through Queensland Cup feeder club Souths Logan. He was 19 when he made his debut against the Warriors in May 2010, but the last of his 33 NRL appearances was in a 36-22 loss to Manly in Canberra one year ago today.

Stone, who will replace Bennett in charge of the Knights at the end of the season, wants to restock the front-row reserves and hopes Mataora fills one of those spots. The NSW Cup coach was impressed with him and prop partner Pat Vaivai yesterday and said Mataora had improved steadily with every game in Newcastle colours.
‘‘I thought Sam’s game today was a real good game for us, and he might get a go before the year’s out. He’s probably only played six to eight games with the NSW Cup side, but I think he’s shown enough to say he’s got a bit in the future,’’ Stone said.

‘‘Obviously he’s played about 30 games at the Raiders, and he hasn’t played first grade for a couple of years because of injuries and a few different reasons, but maybe there’s an opportunity for him to cement a place considering front row is an area where we need to boost our stocks for next year.

‘‘I understand there’s a few clubs interested in him, and Brisbane is probably home for him originally coming out of the Souths Logan system, but he’s pretty comfortable here.

‘‘He’s enjoying Newcastle, and he’s getting more and more confident with the boys each week, and hopefully he can see a future for himself here.’’

The Knights overcame a sloppy start and a 12-6 deficit to lead 18-12 at the break. Manly five-eighth Jack Littlejohn levelled the scores at 18-all with a converted try in the 49th minute but Newcastle dominated the final half-hour with 24 unanswered points.

Fullback Nathan Ross did nothing to harm his chances of a new contract when he crossed for four tries in the space of 20 minutes in the final quarter....

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

This stones first AK47 signing?