Schuster has been a hot topic of conversation internally at the club since he was offered to the Knights by his agent Mario Tartak following his highly-publicised exit from the Sea Eagles.
Schuster walked away from a three-year, $2.4 million contract with Manly late last month after the player and club agreed to a mutual termination.
Tartak has been quietly shopping the 23-year-old to rivals since then, with St George-Illawarra rumoured to be one club who has expressed an interest.
For their part, the Knights have been weighing up the pros and cons of a potential offer, with Schuster's asking price believed to be around the $350,000 mark. Intriguingly, the Knights still have a spot left in their top 30 roster this season and have until June 30 to fill it.
There is no question Schuster, whose uncle John is a former All Black who had a cult-like following when he played for the Knights in the early '90s, is a prodigious talent.
At his best, he would no doubt provide the Knights with a huge point of difference in attack.
But the downside is the baggage he now carries with his overall work ethic both in games and at training often called into question when he was at Manly.
O'Brien's coaching philosophy is pretty simple.
Above all else, it's about effort, desire and resilience, three words that have rarely been associated with Schuster during his 50-game NRL career.
Ironically, the player likely to have the most to lose if the Knights do decide to go after Schuster is injured off-contract five-eighth Tyson Gamble, whose game is largely based around effort and enthusiasm.
Advisor under the spotlight
A number of former Knights employees who either resigned or were pushed out of the club could be forgiven if they had a quiet chuckle to themselves earlier this week when the Kalyn Ponga-third party contract drama exploded in the media with the spotlight firmly focused on the role controversial behind-the-scenes "advisor" Blake Cannavo has at the club.
Home away from home
Is pressure coming from the NRL for the Knights to forfeit a home game next season if they are to play in Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane?
As many as three NRL clubs who are giving up home games this weekend have publicly stated they won't be prepared to do so again next year, putting pressure on clubs like the Knights who have always played at Suncorp Stadium as an away game in Magic Round.
Housing the next generation
We told you weeks ago Wests Group are bank-rolling a much bigger development budget to improve the Knights junior pathways.
The club has already opened an academy in Muswellbrook and will do likewise at Wyong and on the mid-north coast.
As part of the big spend, Wests have also started construction on a new multi-bedroom complex at a cost of around $4 million that will house young pathways players who move to Newcastle from out of the area.
It's understood a block of land has been cleared for the build to begin in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Knights have signed teenage Kiwi winger Sosaia Latu on a four-year deal that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2028 season.
Latu starred for the Knights in this season's S G Ball competition.
The club is also on the verge of extending outstanding young front-row prospect Cody Hopwood to the end of 2027.
Premierships not a focus
The Knights are set to continue with a policy of playing younger players in higher grades with coach Adam O'Brien declaring development is more important than premierships in pathways competitions.
"We are going to continue to push our best young players up rather than leave them in their age groups to give them the best chance of becoming NRL players," he told us.
