Rumoured Targets 3

[Mr_Knightside]

Moses extend with Eels until 2029. Wonder how this will affect Brown’s decision.

Yeah just saw this. The timing of it tells me the Eels would be wanting Brown to commit to a similar timeline as Moses and this would show him that Moses is already committed and I’m sure would be in his ear.

On the other side of things maybe they’re not confident of keeping Brown so needed to get the Moses deal done so the optics aren’t as bad.

Hard to know either way.

 

[Alex28]

1.3 million a year for Brown is salary cap destroying overs but a Ponga/Sharpe/Brown/Crossland or Arthur spine could be lethal as f**k.

Is it salary cap destroying?

Other teams have three very highly paid players in their cap and they never get referred to as “cap destroying”.

Perhaps we have people in the club now that can actually manage the cap.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Is he worth $1.3 a year for a team like us? Definitely. Is 10 years a risky gamble? Definitely. Desperate for success? Definitely.

Let's get it done!!!

- No
- Definitely
- Unfortunately

 

[ryan.a87]

I know Storm are storm

but they have

Munster on 1.2…….papi, Hughes and Grant are all on a mil (or very close)

having two players on 1.2-1.3 isn’t the worst thing in the world……until we loose someone like Share because we can’t match offers from Roosters and PNG

 

[HarVeeGee]

I know Storm are storm

but they have

Munster on 1.2…….papi, Hughes and Grant are all on a mil (or very close)

having two players on 1.2-1.3 isn’t the worst thing in the world……until we loose someone like Share because we can’t match offers from Roosters and PNG

Yeah the “salary cap destroying/distorting wage” shit is nonsense. Everyone pays their gun players. The thing which f**ks the cap is too many mediocre “mid range” players, guys who make $4-600K to provide barely more value than players on near minimum wage.

$1 million for Pappy with his injury history is overs, but they value him for culture reasons, so they pay. $1.3 million for Munster based on what he provides on a week to week basis is overs (no one questions it because of his big game rep). Hughes and particularly Grant (IMO a top three player in the NRL) are on unders. They’re overpaying a couple players they have (Howarth, NAS) and getting preposterous value out of others (Loiero is the one who most stands out here). It all comes out in the wash. If they weren’t winning some of these deals would be questioned. No one gets it right every time. Every roster has some bad value contracts. Top tier talent and great coaching papers over the cracks.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

The thing which f**ks the cap is too many mediocre “mid range” players, guys who make $4-600K to provide barely more value than players on near minimum wage.

No one likes to hear that apparently - be careful.

$1 million for Pappy with his injury history is overs, but they value him for culture reasons,

Storm offered him an extension of 850K - hence he went to market to test his value. Stayed because " this group is special and I want to win Premierships.

The top clubs have been spending around 30 % + of the cap on spine players. Next years cap increase that will be around 3.5 million +

Spine players make the low cost players play better. They also make players want to stay and win Premierships.

Hardly surprising the posters saying "cap destroying" are the same posters that think Elliot and Gamble will be in a Premiership winning team - LMFAO

 

[Nuke]

People baulking at the 10yr length of the contract offered, which initially I did myself too, have to remember how worthless contracts really are these days. Okay, 10yr contract offered, 10yr contract accepted. We have Brown for 10yrs. Except, let's say, year 3 or 4 comes along and it's obviously not working out. He can request and be released at any point along the way. It's the way NRL contracts are these days. They are barely worth the paper they're written on.

 

[Rod]

People baulking at the 10yr length of the contract offered, which initially I did myself too, have to remember how worthless contracts really are these days. Okay, 10yr contract offered, 10yr contract accepted. We have Brown for 10yrs. Except, let's say, year 3 or 4 comes along and it's obviously not working out. He can request and be released at any point along the way. It's the way NRL contracts are these days. They are barely worth the paper they're written on.

I thought this also. There's also the possibility along those lines that we get say, 7 of his best years and then a SL club is willing to pay decent money to take him off our hands.

 

[mozza91]

Hardly surprising the posters saying "cap destroying" are the same posters that think Elliot and Gamble will be in a Premiership winning team - LMFAO

Calm down Lich. Pretty sure nobody has suggested this.

 

[perverse]

People baulking at the 10yr length of the contract offered, which initially I did myself too, have to remember how worthless contracts really are these days. Okay, 10yr contract offered, 10yr contract accepted. We have Brown for 10yrs. Except, let's say, year 3 or 4 comes along and it's obviously not working out. He can request and be released at any point along the way. It's the way NRL contracts are these days. They are barely worth the paper they're written on.

Ask Jackson Hastings or Jayden Brailey if a contract means nothing. These blokes wouldn't have played in knights colours last year or this year if their contracts were worthless.

It's all in the players court, not the clubs.

The contract is a huge, huge risk for us and there's no way to cut it in any other direction. I still say go for it. Roll the dice.

 

[Woody90]

Whilst I prefer him at 6 I don’t hate the idea of Brown at 7 IF we come up with a suitable game plan for it to work. We can’t expect him to become a player that he’s not.

This is what it comes down to for me. He could play 7 if we use a suitable game plan. If we play the same style we did in the trials this year and in 2023 I think he’ll fit in extremely well and he, KP and Sharpe will be lethal together.

If we try and play the 2024 style he won’t fit into 7.

Considering before injury Gamble was AOB’s first pick for the 7 and he’s not a natural 7 either I feel optimistic they think our systems can still work without a traditional style halfback.

 

[perverse]

Has anyone considered the possibility that Sharpe ends up our halfback, and is getting eased in at 5/8th?

Could happen.

 

[Woody90]

Has anyone considered the possibility that Sharpe ends up our halfback, and is getting eased in at 5/8th?

Could happen.

Very likely IMO. All the talk from everyone regarding his talk and football brain, I think that’s what the plan is long term. Obviously makes sense though to ease him in at 6 which is more aligned with his best asset
(running) currently without the added pressure.

Pretty sure when he did play halves as a junior it was more in the 7 too but I could be wrong there.

 

[Reflector]

The Sydney media just can’t seem to comprehend the concept that it’s not easy to sign players as a regional club.

As I see it, there is a currently un-claimed spot to be THE #1 regional club as an ideal destination for talented players from the country/ players who don't want to live in Sydney or Brisbane. There are 3 clubs in contention for this mantle - the Cowboys, the Raiders and the Knights.

Cowboys have the climate to their benefit, but Townsville is far from everywhere else of note.

Canberra is a 3 hour drive from Sydney but it's cold, the beach is hours away and the nepotism at the Raiders means they aren't becoming a serious contender anytime soon.

Newcastle is 2 hours from Sydney, ideal climate, beaches and the wineries on your doorstep and geographically it's much more "central" (Qld clubs to the north, Sydney clubs + Raiders and Storm to the south).

Knights have a golden opportunity to become the #1 regional club of choice for the players I mentioned, provided they get it right off field and show ambition to be genuine contenders rather than signing an underperforming coach to a 5 year extension because he's old mates with the guys running the club.

 

[HarVeeGee]

Very likely IMO. All the talk from everyone regarding his talk and football brain, I think that’s what the plan is long term. Obviously makes sense though to ease him in at 6 which is more aligned with his best asset
(running) currently without the added pressure.

Pretty sure when he did play halves as a junior it was more in the 7 too but I could be wrong there.

Yeah it’s not unthinkable. AOB seemingly can’t talk about Fletcher without mentioning Cam Munster, who’s a 6 who takes a very active role in steering his team around.

Either way I don’t envision a situation where they expect Dylan to be basically the entire brains of the team, playing on the ball through the middle third constantly. If that’s what they wanted they wouldn’t be looking at him. We’ll almost certainly play with a left sided and right sided half and a ball playing lock.

It can be debated whether a half who basically just plays a side of the field is worth $1.3 million… but that’s what Jahrome Hughes is, and no one would blink an eye over him getting paid that. Scoring and setting up lots of tries in a winning team obliterates all objections.

 

[Woody90]

As I see it, there is a currently un-claimed spot to be THE #1 regional club as an ideal destination for talented players from the country/ players who don't want to live in Sydney or Brisbane. There are 3 clubs in contention for this mantle - the Cowboys, the Raiders and the Knights.

Cowboys have the climate to their benefit, but Townsville is far from everywhere else of note.

Canberra is a 3 hour drive from Sydney but it's cold, the beach is hours away and the nepotism at the Raiders means they aren't becoming a serious contender anytime soon.

Newcastle is 2 hours from Sydney, ideal climate, beaches and the wineries on your doorstep and geographically it's much more "central" (Qld clubs to the north, Sydney clubs + Raiders and Storm to the south).

Knights have a golden opportunity to become the #1 regional club of choice for the players I mentioned, provided they get it right off field and show ambition to be genuine contenders rather than signing an underperforming coach to a 5 year extension because he's old mates with the guys running the club.

Completely agree with you re the lifestyle factor. That’s only part of the reason though why the regional clubs struggle. Just being in smaller markets significantly limits TPAs and associated perks, work opportunities outside of footy, collaborations, networking, etc that clubs in capital cities have easy access too. Dom Young has just signed a modelling contract in Sydney for example. He never would have had the opportunity to do that up here (although he’d probably be a better footballer lol). What opportunities our players do have access to usually go straight to KP as naturally being so marketable he’s who the companies want to be involved with.

Improving on the field will definitely help us be a more attractive option, but I think we’re going to need to be prepared to keep paying overs to get good players to leave areas with more opportunities, families, etc. On the flip side of that though we can maybe save money on them later in their careers like Friz and Gags who have come to love the lifestyle and don’t want to take their families out of it.

 

[slotmachine]

possibility that Sharpe ends up our halfback

Seems pretty unlikely, he can't kick. Even KP whose the most naturally gifted player you might see still isn't a great kick.

 

[perverse]

Seems pretty unlikely, he can't kick. Even KP whose the most naturally gifted player you might see still isn't a great kick.

He can't kick now, yeah. It might not be plan A, but I could see it getting a spin at some point if Brown struggles at halfback in this hypothetical future where he actually comes to Newcastle in the first place.

 

[HarVeeGee]

Kalyn can kick. He’s got a bigger boot than Gamble, who everyone says has a big boot. Going on the all stars game and the trial last weekend it looked a lot like his kicking load is set to go up this year. Something like 33% of the kicks each game I’d wager.

 

[Woody90]

KP’s got a good short kicking game. Nobody at the club has a great long kicking game.