NRL Player Movement and Rumours 2016

Knights have offered Kayln Ponga a 5 year, $3m deal.

According to Badel.
 
They are also offering big money to Bird and Holmes

Big risk signing for the Knights for Ponga. He could stay in NQLD and develop more under Thurston but he will now become the go to man at Newcastle with massive expectations.
 
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There is one example of a player manager knowing full well he's got a club by the balls
 
take this with a grain of salt as id does come from the Lurker ... but:

I’m hearing Newcastle are preparing to make a massive bid for Ben Barba once he completes his 12-game drug ban next season.

Cronulla are keen to re-sign Barba once his ban is served, but on half the money he was on this year.
The Knights, in contrast, are prepared to pay Barba top dollar.
Nathan Brown has been unable to sign any big name players and are desperate to attract star talent.
Barba fits into that category and would be a great signing for the Knights after his sensational role in the Sharks’ grand final triumph.
Several other clubs have expressed lukewarm interest in Barba but right now, his two most likely options are a return to the Sharks or go to the Knights.
Barba will have to be cleared by the NRL Integrity Unit and the fact he has a previous drugs conviction complicates matters.
But there seems little doubt that if he keeps his nose clean - pardon the pun - he will be good to go once his 12-game ban is completed.
Click to expand...

The Lurker: The surprise candidate chasing Barba | Sporting News
 
To be honest, I can't see Barba going any good at Knights.

The reason being, their forward pack isn't any good.

Barba has excelled at two clubs, and is it any surprise they both had good big forward packs?

He would likely be one of the players running the show at Knights and I don't think he suits that role.

He is better when that pressure is taken off him and he can just focus on doing what he does best.
 
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Broncoman said:
They are also offering big money to Bird and Holmes

Big risk signing for the Knights for Ponga. He could stay in NQLD and develop more under Thurston but he will now become the go to man at Newcastle with massive expectations.
Click to expand...

Looks like they have signed him. His idol is Coote as well, and he has said in the past that he doesn't want to take Coote's because he loves to learn off him. But he was on the wing when he was playing on Debut but his preferred position is full back. So he is getting offered full time spot as full back at knights on top money so he would be silly knocking it back even though he would be learning lots off the top players that have been playing the game for a long time at Cowboys.
 
Massoud just confirmed it's a done deal with the Knights, $3.5m over 5 years.
 
If someone with 1 game of first grade can get that then good on him. This has gotta be some kind of a record.
 
Tom said:
If someone with 1 game of first grade can get that then good on him. This has gotta be some kind of a record.
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It is.

Richest teenager in history.
 
The Knights offer reeks of desperation. I guess they were totally horrible this year. You can understand why they are so desperate.
 
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I am actually looking forward to watching the young fella play full time and hopefully he will help the knights out of getting another wooden spoon.

Big role for a young fella.
 
don't get me wrong ... he has bucket loads of potential. but as we've all seen many times, potential doesn't always translate to performance. if Ponga gets a long term injury or just can't make the step up consistently, then there is a big chunk of the Knights cap wasted ... and it would screw them up for years to come.

Also IMO, one of the biggest problem for the Knights this year was they simply had too many young kids on the field, that just weren't ready for consistent first grade rugby league in the worlds toughest competition. and their solution was to go and spend a massive amount on another rookie.

what they needed to do was take that money and spend it on a hardened first grader. someone who could lead the club off the bottom of the ladder and mold their kids into consistent first graders. 700k a season could have gotten them that player.
 
I disagree somewhat that they need to spend all their cap on hardened veterans because they've got a bunch of young players, that's the wrong approach to take, especially when their young players haven't really proven that they're going to be good NRL players yet (Blokes like Mamo have been horrible in first grade), they took a punt, like we took a punt on Milford, I respect it. Hope he works out,
 
[Tweet]798824613262151681[/Tweet]

Hold the phone
 
Unbreakable said:
I disagree somewhat that they need to spend all their cap on hardened veterans because they've got a bunch of young players, that's the wrong approach to take, especially when their young players haven't really proven that they're going to be good NRL players yet (Blokes like Mamo have been horrible in first grade), they took a punt, like we took a punt on Milford, I respect it. Hope he works out,
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Poor comparison IMO, taking a punt in a well functioning side where you haven't much to lose compared to the state the Knights are in ATM. The knights should be concentrating on recruiting proven, quality players who can provide leadership and you can build the side around that, not throwing absurd amounts of money at a rookie of one match when that money can be spent better elsewhere. I hope it works out for them if it happens, but honestly it wouldn't take much to come back to haunt them.
 
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Unbreakable said:
I disagree somewhat that they need to spend all their cap on hardened veterans because they've got a bunch of young players, that's the wrong approach to take, especially when their young players haven't really proven that they're going to be good NRL players yet (Blokes like Mamo have been horrible in first grade), they took a punt, like we took a punt on Milford, I respect it. Hope he works out,
Click to expand...

true ... they don't need to spend their entire cap on hardened veterans ... but they need more than a team of rookies to be successful in this competition.

I hope it works out for them and Ponga, but I fear that the Knights and Brown are the complete wrong match for him to develop his game with.
 
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