Team 2016

[Swarzey]

Another junior that got away?

http://www.nospam47.com/league-news/4691897-broncos-snap-up-another-young-superstar-from-the-raiders

Long ago. The club tried to lure him back last year I believe. He and Sione tore it up as juniors; was really disappointing the club didn't hang onto him.

 

[The Showstopper]

Same story different day for us!

 

[Spot On]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/2516329c4cc74e1c208d42c1acfe2d14


I love this from Brown. Exactly what I want to hear from a coach.

EMERGING Newcastle backrower Joseph Tapine has been warned he faces the prospect of sitting on the bench for NSW Cup this season if he decides against signing a lucrative new three-year deal with the Knights.

A tug of war between the Knights and rival club Canberra for Tapine’s services has intensified with Newcastle coach Nathan Brown understood to have made it clear to the former Kiwi junior international he will play hardball if the 21-year-old decides his future beyond the end of the season lies in the national capital.

Brown was reluctant to divulge details of his negotiations with Tapine other than to say he believes the youngster has enormous potential and has a clear pathway at the Knights.

Veteran Chris Houston was released by the club during the off-season with a year to run on his contract with a view to fast-tracking Tapine’s development.

“He is very important to us and we are obviously extremely keen to keep Joe here long term,” Brown said.

“I’ve sat down with him and his mum to make sure they are aware of exactly where he stands.

“We have made him what we consider is a very good offer for where he is at and we are just waiting for his manager to come back to us.

“We all want to have something done before the season kicks off.”

But the water has been muddied in recent weeks by the intense interest from the Raiders.

It is understood they have matched the Knights’ three year term but their deal is said to be worth considerably more money. And Tapine does have ties to the club.


Newcastle's Joseph Tapine is a target for the Canberra Raiders.
Canberra recruitment boss Peter Mulholland, formally at Newcastle, was responsible for launching his career at the Knights in 2013 after identifying him in New Zealand and his first coach in Newcastle, Michael Crawley, is now Ricky Stuart’s right hand man at the Raiders.

Tapine is also good mates with current Raiders and ex-Knights players Joey Leilua and Adam Clydsdale.

Brown did not want to discuss the particulars of Tapine’s contract offer including the ultimatum about what grade he may be forced to play if he failed to re-sign but Tapine has told those close to him of his dilemma.

Knights CEO Matt Gidley is hopeful the loyalty factor will also help sway Tapine into staying.

The club stood by him last season during a stressful period when he was charged with assault and appeared in court after a man’s jaw was broken in a fight outside a Newcastle hotel.

The charge threatened to derail his career but he was subsequently acquitted of causing reckless grievous bodily harm. Tapine vowed at the time to repay the Knights faith in him over the incident.

 

[Jono078]

Good. This shows that Brown is all about developing players who will be here and building a squad for the future. No use playing him over another potential backrower who could be with us for the good years.

In saying that, I hope he stays and lives up to the hype. On his day he can be good.

 

[Swarzey]

Great stuff to hear. I want the club to retain him, absolutely, but if he's going to leave then I would love the club to promote another young guy to first grade. Fitzgibbon, Yates, a Saifiti or two. All would take the opportunity with both hands. Can't knock the club for standing firm on this one even if he goes onto be the player we think he can be. Stood by him when 15 other clubs would have sacked him (it looked pretty grim when news first broke), he's not a superstar talent yet but I guaren-f**king-tee our cap in four years will be ready to retain him if he kicks on.

 

[Knight Vision]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/2516329c4cc74e1c208d42c1acfe2d14


I love this from Brown. Exactly what I want to hear from a coach.

EMERGING Newcastle backrower Joseph Tapine has been warned he faces the prospect of sitting on the bench for NSW Cup this season if he decides against signing a lucrative new three-year deal with the Knights.

A tug of war between the Knights and rival club Canberra for Tapine?s services has intensified with Newcastle coach Nathan Brown understood to have made it clear to the former Kiwi junior international he will play hardball if the 21-year-old decides his future beyond the end of the season lies in the national capital.

Brown was reluctant to divulge details of his negotiations with Tapine other than to say he believes the youngster has enormous potential and has a clear pathway at the Knights.

Veteran Chris Houston was released by the club during the off-season with a year to run on his contract with a view to fast-tracking Tapine?s development.

?He is very important to us and we are obviously extremely keen to keep Joe here long term,? Brown said.

?I?ve sat down with him and his mum to make sure they are aware of exactly where he stands.

?We have made him what we consider is a very good offer for where he is at and we are just waiting for his manager to come back to us.

?We all want to have something done before the season kicks off.?

But the water has been muddied in recent weeks by the intense interest from the Raiders.

It is understood they have matched the Knights? three year term but their deal is said to be worth considerably more money. And Tapine does have ties to the club.


Newcastle's Joseph Tapine is a target for the Canberra Raiders.
Canberra recruitment boss Peter Mulholland, formally at Newcastle, was responsible for launching his career at the Knights in 2013 after identifying him in New Zealand and his first coach in Newcastle, Michael Crawley, is now Ricky Stuart?s right hand man at the Raiders.

Tapine is also good mates with current Raiders and ex-Knights players Joey Leilua and Adam Clydsdale.

Brown did not want to discuss the particulars of Tapine?s contract offer including the ultimatum about what grade he may be forced to play if he failed to re-sign but Tapine has told those close to him of his dilemma.

Knights CEO Matt Gidley is hopeful the loyalty factor will also help sway Tapine into staying.

The club stood by him last season during a stressful period when he was charged with assault and appeared in court after a man?s jaw was broken in a fight outside a Newcastle hotel.

The charge threatened to derail his career but he was subsequently acquitted of causing reckless grievous bodily harm. Tapine vowed at the time to repay the Knights faith in him over the incident.

I hope we retain this kid. He's got class written all over him.

 

[The Showstopper]

Brown is our prayers answered. Tapine now knows where he stands. More money for Cordner if he leaves. I am not sold yet that Cordner wants to stay at Roosters.

 

[Frederick]

I hope we retain this kid. He's got class written all over him.

If he's considering an offer from the raiders then he can't have as much class as you think...

 

[PhilGould]

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/news/2016/01/29/knights_sign_pauli_p.html

Pauli Pauli signing is official.

 

[The Showstopper]

Most impressive thing re Pauli is we offered less than he wanted according to reports. I hope we stayed the course and he understands it us doing him the favour as they wanted him out. Brown gives the vibe that he makes an offer and if you want more then you are going to earn it. Rochow is entitled to look around but if Brown says the offer is a 'very good one' then you have to wonder if that is all we are offering.

 

[slotmachine]

$130k for Pauli, nice and cheap.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

$130k for Pauli, nice and cheap.

And only a 2 year contract too, which is he best option for someone who is fairly unproven and it basically means that there will be no time for any laziness because he is basically playing for a new contract from the get go.

 

[Jono078]

Great buy, especially at that price!

 

[The Showstopper]

Snowden, Sims, Paea and now Pauli. That has me much more confident we can hold bigger sides.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Snowden, Sims, Paea and now Pauli. That has me much more confident we can hold bigger sides.

Stockwell and rochow can also play up front, so we are looking in better shape than last year.

Last year we had a coach that was moving Sione from the bench to fullback and Kurt Gidley was being moved all over the place throughout the year.Hopefully Brown improves the teams structure and with the extra grunt up front will help pay dividends. Hopefully Kims plays as well as last year if not better and Snowy puts in for the whole year... We also lost Stockwell and Rochow early last year and they were arguably 2 of our better players. Roberts was arguably the knights worst player in 2015 and he has been replaced by Hodkinson. There is some hope there for a much more improved season in 2016

 

[Burwood]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-...on-miss-newcastle-knights-2016-season/7134496

Newcastle Knights winger James McManus will sit out the 2016 NRL season due to concussion.

The Scottish-born flyer has not taken the field since round 20 of 2015, when he copped his second head knock of the season, against South Sydney.

He has been receiving treatment and medical advice since the incident that saw him collapse near the sidelines of Sydney's Olympic stadium.

McManus, who has played three State of Origin games for New South Wales, was taken straight to hospital and there were rumours he would retire after the incident.

While the 30-year-old has not officially announced his retirement, his current deal with the Knights expires at the end of the upcoming season.

"I need rest and time to work through my options," McManus said.

"This has been a difficult time and I certainly appreciate everyone's support."

This is the last thing that I was expecting from McManus and the club- not the fact that he isn't playing, but that he isn't retiring altogether and is being kept on the books. The guy is 30, this is the final year of his contract, and he is taking at least 12 months off due to severe concussion- he really should just call it quits.

And this might sound like me being bit of a prick, but by not retiring, won't his contract value still be counted under the salary cap in 2016? I remember when Johns was forced into medical retirement that the club was able to use his money without it counting towards the salary cap.

 

[Jono078]

It's really unfortunate that he's had to retire this way. But you are right, he is doing us no favors at all and he wouldn't be on a small contract by any means.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-...on-miss-newcastle-knights-2016-season/7134496



This is the last thing that I was expecting from McManus and the club- not the fact that he isn't playing, but that he isn't retiring altogether and is being kept on the books. The guy is 30, this is the final year of his contract, and he is taking at least 12 months off due to severe concussion- he really should just call it quits.

And this might sound like me being bit of a prick, but by not retiring, won't his contract value still be counted under the salary cap in 2016? I remember when Johns was forced into medical retirement that the club was able to use his money without it counting towards the salary cap.

I agree with you on this, I'm not a doctor or anything but surely if this is the type of injury that would be bad enough to keep him out for a whole season and would put him at risk of a more serious injury down the track then he should probably just accept that he may not be able to play professional footy again. I get that he probably feels like he's not ready to retire just yet and that he wants to keep playing but it also sounds like he might be in denial about how serious the injury is.

Obviously I don't know the full extent of it and I'm just basing it on what's been said in this article and other articles leading up to this but if you suffer a head-knock serious enough to keep you out of the game for a whole year then I would think that the effects of it probably aren't going to wear off.

I would never want a guy to be forced into early retirement but basically we'll now be paying him as a player under our salary cap all year who isn't going to be playing, assuming he's on decent coin (given he played rep footy in the last couple of years he probably is) that money could go towards signing someone to fill one of the many problem areas in our roster.

All that being said it's a massive shame this is happening with McManus as he's one of my favourite players and I hope he does make a full recovery.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

I'll back paying McManus for this season. It's a player welfare issue. Not his fault he was injured. We back injured payers as part of the deal.
I think there *should* be a salary cap concession in situations like this.
If McManus was offered a position in the club for this season at least I'd back him retiring. It's his and the club's decision. A lot of these guys don't know anything outside of the game.
Maybe Newton needs to get active re salary cap and temporary club positions in situations like this - if the player is up to it.

 

[Delboy]

Guys, I think there is a concession for a season ending injury. Clubs last year sought relief for players ending their year at the 9s.

You should be OK if McManus has to stand aside due to concussion for the season, as long as you apply for the concession