Rumoured Targets 3

[Pedge1971]

Wont happen. Watson came here to play spine. Lamb misses out till the inevitable injury....

 

[Pedge1971]

As we stand we are still bottom 4

Agreed with that draw. Hence why I said top 10 is a stretch.

 

[Pedge1971]

Yeah. Nov 1st. Wonder if any clubs will look at him considering the way we are going about it.

I don’t reckon he will look elsewhere tbh.

It would be a very bad look if they did given circumstances. So yes they will.

 

[Joel-22]

I am 100% against the signing of Pearce if it jeopardises Lamb's future with the club. We have a lot of talented youngsters at the club but I think Lamb has the most potential. I think he had a tremendous year playing along side various incompetent halves partners and non-playmaking fullbacks.
Lamb's 19 linebreak assists given the circumstances is a spectacular achievement. He very rarely misses tackles and came up with some absolute pearler one-on-one trysavers throughout the year.
Did I mention he's 20 years old it was his first f**king year of first grade?
I think putting the right people (both players and staff) around Lamb, Ponga and Levi is our best bet of winning a comp within the next 5 years.

 

[PhilGould]

The Knights are making moves to get Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce to Newcastle

KNIGHTS coach Nathan Brown has twice phoned Balmain Tigers legend and NRL commissioner Wayne Pearce in the last week.

And no prizes for guessing the topic of conversation — the future of Pearce’s son Mitchell.

Knowing he can’t directly negotiate with the Blues State of Origin halfback, Brown has spoken to his father about Pearce joining three old Roosters team mates in Knights colours next year — Connor Watson, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Aidan Guerra.

And in a further indication that the Knights are determined to trump the Manly Sea Eagles bid for Pearce, Knights board member John Quayle and new chief executive Phil Gardner have booked a meeting on Tuesday with Roosters supremo Nick Politis in Sydney.

It will coincide with the official announcement that Cronk is joining the Roosters.

Quayle and Politis go back a long way in rugby league and business.

And it will be Politis who eventually decides if Pearce is released from his $1.6 million contract.

It’s no coincidence that three Roosters players have already been signed by the Knights — Watson, Kenny-Dowall and Guerra. Will Pearce be next?

The meeting on Tuesday is more about Gardner getting to know the game’s most experienced powerbroker. But rest assured Pearce’s future will be on the agenda.

You’d think the Roosters would rather release him to Newcastle than a stronger club like Manly where it could come back to bite them.

Brown told The Daily Telegraph his aim was always to sign an experienced playmaker.

“We have some wonderful talent coming through,” Brown said, “but if a player of Mitchell’s ability becomes available we’d be mad not to make some inquiries.

“I have spoken to his father a couple of times.

“He knows how highly I rate Mitchell and I just wanted him to know we’d be keen.

“He’s only 28 and the best halves in the game are still playing well into their thirties.”

The Roosters appear to be relaxing their original stance of refusing to release Pearce.

Three times coach Trent Robinson has tried to meet face-to-face with his halfback this week.

Three times Pearce has refused. He’s on holidays — and he’s hurting.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/c9de3c9b87fd5692ed62afabbba6adf8

 

[Sacrolishes]

I'm all for signing him... he would be a massive addition fir Lamb, Levi & Ponga to learn off. I won't however agree with Lamb being dropped to reserves. He was incredible this year and absolutely deserves first crack. I'm very excited for Watson, but he is totally unproven in the halves, to be considered better then Lamb... he would have to put in a barn storming pre-Season to convince Brown and staff.

This is why I'm also not too disappointed if we miss out on Pearce as it almost excites me more to see how much Lamb, Watson, Levi & Ponga can develop together. Incredibly exciting spine with great potential. Snagging another outside back and another first class forward to help build around them.

Tough decision to make, I feel like Phil Gardner is going to be quite prominent in all this and be a real ace in the hole in negotiations.

The Knights are making moves to get Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce to Newcastle

KNIGHTS coach Nathan Brown has twice phoned Balmain Tigers legend and NRL commissioner Wayne Pearce in the last week.

And no prizes for guessing the topic of conversation — the future of Pearce’s son Mitchell.

Knowing he can’t directly negotiate with the Blues State of Origin halfback, Brown has spoken to his father about Pearce joining three old Roosters team mates in Knights colours next year — Connor Watson, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Aidan Guerra.

And in a further indication that the Knights are determined to trump the Manly Sea Eagles bid for Pearce, Knights board member John Quayle and new chief executive Phil Gardner have booked a meeting on Tuesday with Roosters supremo Nick Politis in Sydney.

It will coincide with the official announcement that Cronk is joining the Roosters.

Quayle and Politis go back a long way in rugby league and business.

And it will be Politis who eventually decides if Pearce is released from his $1.6 million contract.

It’s no coincidence that three Roosters players have already been signed by the Knights — Watson, Kenny-Dowall and Guerra. Will Pearce be next?

The meeting on Tuesday is more about Gardner getting to know the game’s most experienced powerbroker. But rest assured Pearce’s future will be on the agenda.

You’d think the Roosters would rather release him to Newcastle than a stronger club like Manly where it could come back to bite them.

Brown told The Daily Telegraph his aim was always to sign an experienced playmaker.

“We have some wonderful talent coming through,” Brown said, “but if a player of Mitchell’s ability becomes available we’d be mad not to make some inquiries.

“I have spoken to his father a couple of times.

“He knows how highly I rate Mitchell and I just wanted him to know we’d be keen.

“He’s only 28 and the best halves in the game are still playing well into their thirties.”

The Roosters appear to be relaxing their original stance of refusing to release Pearce.

Three times coach Trent Robinson has tried to meet face-to-face with his halfback this week.

Three times Pearce has refused. He’s on holidays — and he’s hurting.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/c9de3c9b87fd5692ed62afabbba6adf8

 

[Hardcore_Fan]

Looks like we are doing all we can to get this over the line. Jeese we have some good negotiators now. I love browns approach to this speaking to Wayne, then we have quale and Gardiner hitting up Politis and then we have Mooney as the cherry on top. We are going very hard for this signing, rightly so.

Pearce will have a new lease of life with the knights. New club, new players, he will be a new man. Will do him the world of good.

 

[Alex28]

Pearce will be a great influence on Lamb. We are kidding ourselves if the 4 in the spine can just learn by themselves.

Even if Pearce hangs around for a few years, teaches the young blokes a thing or two and moves on, it will be a great thing for the club long-term.

 

[Hardcore_Fan]

Pearce will be a great influence on Lamb. We are kidding ourselves if the 4 in the spine can just learn by themselves.

Even if Pearce hangs around for a few years, teaches the young blokes a thing or two and moves on, it will be a great thing for the club long-term.

Yeah, a few people are saying that signing Pearce is a short sighted view, but I agree with you, that the longer term benefits will be better than if we didn’t sign Pearce.

 

[AusKnightRKO]

In all honesty, if we get pearce, and players take their respective jumps, this team could be like Tigers of 05

 

[slotmachine]

Lot of talk like Pearce to Knights is a done deal. Surely we'd be outsiders?

 

[Hardcore_Fan]

Lot of talk like Pearce to Knights is a done deal. Surely we'd be outsiders?

The article posted above makes it seems like we are a good shot. Considering Quale and Gardiner are both going down to personally speak to Politis about it. Then factor in if there is any truth behind the roosters not wanting to let him go to a strong club like manly. I’d say we are now a decent chance.

 

[slotmachine]

I think in terms of likelihood it's 1. Stay at Roosters 2. Manly 3. Us

 

[perverse]

I think in terms of likelihood it's 1. Stay at Roosters 2. Manly 3. Us

To be honest I see it as a bit more likely than Cronk or Maloney were... and I'd prefer Pearce over both when all aspects are considered. Pearce still has quite a few tomorrows, and at club level is a class act.

I won't lose sleep if we miss out here, as I've said in other conversations - I'm happy enough to see how our spine pans out for a year with the options we have available... but Pearce would be a big get for us without a doubt.

 

[Old dog]

Think Pearce is a step up on Hodko who could be on the way out entirely if signed.
Not worried how this all pans out, happy if we get Pearce, if he wants to come which no one has seemed to consider, and if not then happy and excited with our current lot even having Hodko for one last season, reserve grade.
I just hope that we hang on to Lamb, Cogger and Watson no matter who else we sign.

 

[slotmachine]

To be honest I see it as a bit more likely than Cronk or Maloney were... and I'd prefer Pearce over both when all aspects are considered. Pearce still has quite a few tomorrows, and at club level is a class act.

I think Maloney was most likely (assuming Sharks found someone else), just a mercenary after a final pay day.

Definitely prefer Pearce if it happens. Maloney's last few months of form were despicable.

 

[Johns Magic]

Big difference between Pearce and Lamb is that Pearce is an athlete. I don't see that potential in Lamb as much as I like a lot about him.

 

[perverse]

I think Maloney was most likely (assuming Sharks found someone else), just a mercenary after a final pay day.

Definitely prefer Pearce if it happens. Maloney's last few months of form were despicable.

Yeah true. I do think we can offer Pearce an attractive package on top of the money, though. He's already got a few ex-teammates that have made the move, and he couldn't ask for a better move to get out of the spotlight of the Sydney media, either. And yeah, money. We can certainly trump the dollars that Manly could afford at the moment.

We shall see what happens, I don't think Pearce is an impossibility. I'm sure the conversations between his dad and Browny have brought up the fact that Newcastle is out of the spotlight and that he could focus on his footy up here.

 

[True blue knights]

They say its between manly and us getting pearce,i think we have the edge on them for a few reasons. 1-with him in our side we are genuine top 8 material,2- manly only just scrap into the finals so i dont see how they are a much better side then us next year3-plus playing with ex rooster mates is a plus and we could easily trump manly offer hands down if we want to go down that path.

 

[Still Nutty]

I love the fact that we are now seriously in the market for this calibre of player. Earlier in the year we were all bemoaning the fact that Knights were largely a negotiation tool for player managers to bump up a players price while never seriously considering this place as a viable option.

While it hasn't translated on the park yet in results, we have come so far this season in foundational infrastructure, financial security, management capacity, coaching capacity, player development - it makes me laugh at how the 'super coach' approached his time here and the failing legacy he left behind, stating the club was a basket case beyond fixing.

I have a newfound passion for this club based on what we now represent as, what I think will become a club of choice like the Storm's of this competition in years to come.

On Pearce - I think he has the potential to help our new squad to be a genuine top 10 finisher and a real smokie for a top 8 finish in 2018 - even with the crap draw we've been given.

For that to happen, my backs starting roster for competing next season would be:

Ponga
Ross
Watson(I know Brown committed to 5/8 but a guaranteed starting Centre spot should keep him happy to start)
Moga
Lamb
Pearce

I genuinely believe, barring major injuries, that is a seriously competitive backline that would score plenty of points and defend well on the back of a solid platform from the forward playing ranks we are amassing.