NRL 2022: Andrew Johns tinkering with Newcastle attack, Kalyn Ponga’s switch to playmaker
Andrew Johns is back at the Knights and his influence is showing, with new attacking structures and a big positional switch on the cards.
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Danny Buderus has given the biggest hint yet that superstar Kalyn Ponga could be in for a halves switch, leaving Newcastle on the lookout for a new fullback.
While Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has been touted as a potential replacement for Mitchell Pearce, Buderus, the club’s general manager of football, said getting Ponga in the halves could be the best way to strengthen the side’s attacking structures.
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“There are options, there are … we don’t necessarily buy a halfback or do we go another way and buy a fullback,” Burderus said.
“All the different options we will get to weigh up. We have a lot of work to do.
“The way we play, the more times Kalyn Ponga touches the ball, the better the team is going to be. It is about how we structure our attacking processes with Kalyn Ponga getting the ball a lot of the time.”
Buderus also revealed club legend and Immortal Andrew Johns, who is into his first week back at Newcastle on the coaching team, could have the last say in Ponga’s move.
Johns has been at training two times a week and is assisting coach Adam O’Brien in changing the Knights’ attacking structures ahead of next season.
“We’ve got Joey here on Mondays and Tuesdays … the attacking structures are changing a little bit and they are getting their head around that,” Buderus said.
“We are only in week three but all the experienced guys come back on the 24th [of November].“
Brooks, former St George Illawarra half Corey Norman and North Queensland’s Scott Drinkwater have all featured on Newcastle’s radar as potential replacements for Pearce, who was released on Monday to continue his career in France.
Buderus said the Knights would now ‘explore’ those options but also backed the crop of young halves on O’Brien’s roster to take the next step if called on.
Adam Clune, who joined the Knights from the Dragons, has been a standout in the first three weeks of pre-season training.
“That is something we will have to explore now and get to work now but we have a responsibility in coaching the players that we have under our roof and developing these players,” Buderus said.
“Whoever gets the chance to go through that now … Adam Clune has arrived and is winning all the fitness tests and the standards we are setting, he’s winning a lot of those.
“So he will get an opportunity … we need an established half and Adam Clune brings that.
“Adam Clune has come to the club and Phoenix Crossland is getting ready to press for a position there and Jake Clifford has been here for the last year.
“Between those guys, we’ll be OK.“
PEARCE: WHY I HAD TO QUIT NRL FOR SOUTH OF FRANCE
Departing Newcastle halfback Mitchell Pearce has spoken for the first time about his shock move to France, declaring: “I just felt the time was right.”
After three weeks of deliberation, Newcastle’s board has finally confirmed Pearce would be freed from the final year of his Knights deal to take up a three-year, $1.8m dollar contract with Super League club, Catalans.
With the Knights are yet to sign a replacement, News Corp continues to be told that North Queensland’s Scott Drinkwater will join the club as Pearce’s successor.
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No doubt Newcastle’s decision to release Pearce will instantly reignite speculation about Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks joining Newcastle.
After a 309-game NRL career, Pearce has been released effective immediately.
“I’ve had so many memories, great times and made lifelong friends but I just felt the time was right to leave the NRL,” Pearce said.
“Going to France will offer a new challenge on and off the field.
“I always wanted to finish my career overseas and what better place than the south of France.
“Catalans made this year’s grand final so hopefully I can enhance what is already a strong roster.
“It was obviously a tough decision to call time on my NRL career and to say farewell to everyone associated with the Knights.”
Pearce also told Nine News: “I went through a few personal things last year so (maybe I needed) a change mentally.
“I’ve been playing for a long time so physically and mentally a change was something that was the most stimulating thing for me.
“There probably are some regrets but, without being a weirdo, they are all lessons, they really are. Sometimes those moments that are perceived be your worst have a silver lining.”
Pearce, 32, will join Catalans as the replacement for James Maloney, who retired from Super League this year to play second tier rugby league in France this coming season.
After a stellar 11-year stint with the Sydney Roosters, which included winning the 2013 grand final, Pearce joined Newcastle in 2018.
In his four years at the club, Pearce twice guided Newcastle to the NRL finals.
“I can only say thank you for the opportunity to wear the colours of such a great club,” Pearce said.
“I want to thank Adam (O’Brien, head coach), the entire coaching staff and, of course, the most passionate fans in the game.
“I’m now looking forward to this next chapter.”
Newcastle issued a statement on Monday morning confirming Pearce’s release.
“The Newcastle Knights have agreed to grant Mitchell Pearce a release to join English Super League Club, Catalans Dragons,” a club statement read.
“Pearce requested a release from the final year of his current contract in late October, with both parties working through the process, making it effective immediately.
“The Knights would like to thank Mitchell for his significant contribution since joining the club in 2017, celebrating many highlights including 300 NRL games and back-to-back finals series.
“The club wishes Mitchell all the very best for his future.”
Newcastle’s board was reluctant to issue Pearce a release until the club found a worthy replacement heading into off-season training.
‘Struggling’: Pearce’s life in NRL furnace
- Paul Crawley
Rugby league legend Wayne Pearce has opened up about his son Mitchell’s immediate exit from the NRL, revealing how the outgoing Newcastle Knights halfback had been “mentally struggling a little bit just with the pressure that comes with being in the focus all the time”.
It comes after the Knights on Monday granted Pearce a release from the final year of his contract to take up a lucrative three-year deal with French Super League club Catalans.
While Pearce Snr believes his son still has a lot of good football left in him at 32 years of age, he also says he was mentally in need of a change after 15 straight years in the NRL bubble, where he was one of the game’s most maligned players.
“I am happy for Mitchell,” Wayne said.
“He is doing what he wants to do, and that is he is going to explore a bit more of the world.
“He has been in the NRL since he was 17.”
Pearce explained that after so many consecutive years “you become a bit institutionalised”, and it was the right decision for his son to explore new opportunities on the other side of the world.
“It doesn’t matter what sort of organisation you have been with, whether it is policing, the education department, or whatever, if you have been working for the one organisation for a long, long period of time you sort of become a bit rigid,” Wayne said.
“I think it is going to be good for him to go and experience a few years of a different lifestyle and a different style of playing rugby league.”
He also didn’t hide from the mental toll the game and his role in it had taken on Mitchell.
“He has still got plenty of good footy left in him. I mean, physically, his body is in really good shape,” Wayne continued.
“But he was just mentally struggling a little bit just with the pressure that comes with being in the focus all the time.”
For all the criticism he has copped over the years, Pearce Jnr had an extremely distinguished career after following in the footsteps of his famous father.
Mitchell finishes with 309 NRL games including a premiership with the Roosters in 2013, while playing 19 Origins for NSW including a part in the Blues’ triumphant series victory in 2019.
“He had 15 years in the game,” Wayne added.
“Being a No. 7 in rugby league is really living in the furnace.
“It is like the quarterback in American football, he cops it if the team doesn’t perform well, and in rugby league the halfback cops the same sort of flak.
“But one thing he has done is that he has always faced the music if he hasn’t performed.
“And one thing you can’t doubt is the competitive nature that he has shown and his resilience.
“I mean, he has been able to bounce back from a lot of setbacks over his career.
“And I am very, very proud of what he has achieved.”
Rivals swoop as Eels play risky game with Gutho
Parramatta is playing another dangerous game of contract poker over the stalled negotiations with captain Clint Gutherson.
It can be revealed that Gutherson has now received what is said to be genuine interest from multiple rival NRL clubs, as the Parramatta Eels baulk at offering their inspirational skipper a new three-year deal.
While Gutherson’s longtime agent Sam Ayoub would not speculate what clubs he had spoken with directly about potentially signing the off-contract 27-year-old, it is understood as many as three rival clubs have already expressed interest.
“You would be insane to assume otherwise,” Ayoub said when questioned about outside interest.
Ayoub also revealed that he was in no rush to finalise deals for any of his three off contract Parramatta stars, also including in demand prop Junior Paulo and hooker Reed Mahoney.
Mahoney was videoed last week having dinner with Canterbury powerbroker Phil Gould and coach Trent Barrett, while Paulo is one of the game’s elite props who also won’t be short of offers.
Ayoub was clear that he was not trying to put any threats to the club about Gutherson either.
But he was not about to sit back and let it be assumed that other clubs were not just as interested in the highly respected fullback.
The Eels genuinely want to keep all three players and have tabled offers, but they are still a considerable way off coming to agreements over the terms of any of those deals.
In Gutherson’s case the sticking point is the length of the offer.
It’s understood the Eels have offered Gutherson a two-year extension worth around $1.5m, but Ayoub is pressing for a three-year term beyond Gutherson’s current deal which expires at the end of next season.
That would take Gutherson to the age of 31 when he next comes off contract at the end of 2025.
This is also the contract period when most elite players are rated in their prime footballing years, and so usually get rewarded with career-best deals.
The club last week attempted to get the process moving forward by placing a deadline of last Friday on all three of Ayoub’s clients.
But officials were then forced to back away from that ultimatum when Ayoub called their bluff and held his ground.
Asked if he wanted negotiations finalised before the players return for pre-season training at the end of the month, Ayoub said: “None of them are anxious to get anything sorted. They really aren’t. There is no pressure.”
He also denied he was upset that negotiations over Gutherson’s future appear to have dragged on, or that the two-year offer was disrespectful.
“No, I’m not upset,” Ayoub added.
“It is a process. I am not upset about anything. There is no rush.”
The Eels have been reluctant to enter into any public debate given the way negotiations with Gutherson went pear-shaped the last time, when he was initially lowballed with an embarrassing first-up offer.
But the fact that they again are seen to be treating their captain with a perceived lack of respect over the length of the deal suggests this could very easily get ugly if it is not sorted out sooner rather than later.
The Eels have already lost Marata Niukore who signed a lucrative deal with the Warriors last week, and they are also yet to finalise the future of several other players including Isaiah Papali’i, who is also in huge demand.
Knights back Joey to bring out best in Tex
Newcastle are planning for life without Mitchell Pearce by handing a lifeline to one-time teenage prodigy Tex Hoy.
Hoy, capable of playing in the halves or at fullback, has agreed to a bottom-dollar development deal after fearing he had played his last game for the club.
Halves consultant Andrew Johns was a major reason for Hoy picking up the 30th spot in the Knights 2022 roster.
The youngest signing in the club’s history, Hoy was recruited to Newcastle at the age of 14.
He made his debut in 2020 and has played 17 NRL games, with the majority at fullback. He was off-contract at the end of last season — and was only forwarded the bargain deal in the last 72 hours.
Johns offered a hint surrounding Hoy’s future on a recent podcast with Wide World of Sports.
The rugby league immortal said the 22-year-old was yet to realise his potential in the halves and was keen to work with the light-footed playmaker for the next 12 months.
“Tex is a fullback but he’s got to commit to five-eighth,” Johns said. “He won’t be playing fullback at the Knights while Kalyn (Ponga) is there.
“They’ve got a bit of depth at the Knights. Interesting to see what happens with Mitchell.”
The Knights are preparing to release Pearce one year earlier than the official expiration date of his 2023 contract, so that he can join Catalans in France immediately.
The club continues to monitor the Luke Brooks situation at the Wests Tigers in the belief that the experienced halfback would prove an ideal replacement for Pearce.
However, Newcastle are anything but stressed about their 2022 halves options, should the Brooks switch fail to eventuate.
Jake Clifford, Adam Clune, Kurt Mann, Kalyn Ponga, Phoenix Crossland and Hoy are all halves combinations for Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien to consider.
The release of Pearce is edging towards finalisation
Warriors nab playmaker off Sharks
The Warriors have landed their second prized signing in three days after officially securing Cronulla youngster Luke Metcalf.
The Warriors have been circling Metcalf for the past month having earmarked him as their long-term halves option. A deal has been close for the past week but Metcalf has officially agreed to join the Warriors for 2023 and 2024.
He joins Marata Niukore as the Warriors first two signings post November 1.
The Warriors are keen and have space on securing the two players immediately but at this stage the Eels and Cronulla have are showing no intention of releasing them early.
The Sharks and Warriors had briefly discussed a player swap but nothing eventuated. Metcalf is expected to partner ex-Cronulla teammate Shaun Johnson in the halves.
Metcalf, 22, made his NRL debut for Cronulla this year.
Knights earmark Pearce replacement
Newcastle is ready to sign off on Mitchell Pearce’s official release even though the Knights don’t have a suitable replacement to cover his loss at this point.
But Scott Drinkwater’s name continues to be thrown up as a possible replacement with unofficial talks understood to be ongoing.
This comes as Pearce agreed to forgo his November salary on his existing Newcastle contract that will set him back about $50,000.
Though it’s still a relatively small price given the lucrative three-year deal offered by French Super League club Catalans.
Pearce’s decision has left the Knights in a difficult position given the lack of options currently on the open market and time running out before the full squad returns for pre-season training later in November.
The Knights are still searching far and wide for a replacement and at this point they are no closer to securing any deal.
It’s no secret the Knights would love to get their hands on Luke Brooks if he became available but Tim Sheens has made it abundantly clear Wests Tigers won’t let him go.
While the Cowboys are also reluctant to release Drinkwater, who is contracted until the end of 2023, they do have depth in the halves with Chad Townsend and Tom Dearden.
They also have two capable fullbacks in Valentine Holmes and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who will fight it out to wear the No. 1 jumper next season.
It is understood the Cowboys might consider releasing Drinkwater if they can get an experienced forward in return.
There is a chance the Knights may still decide to gamble on inexperienced Adam Clune or Phoenix Crossland as Jake Clifford’s first choice halves partner for next season if they miss out on both preferred targets.
If the Drinkwater trade was to happen it might also mean he plays fullback next season and Kalyn Ponga switches to the halves.
Drinkwater would be a good fit at the Knights given he hails from the nearby Central Coast and is equally at home in the halves or at fullback.
Transfer talk: How Warriors poached Parra star
-Peter Badel, Brent Read
Parramatta have suffered their first retention blow with back-rower Marata Niukore signing a $2.5 million deal with the Warriors.
News Corp can reveal Niukore agreed on Wednesday night to a lucrative four-year deal with the Warriors, who have secured the aggressive utility forward until the end of 2026 in a major blow for the Eels.
It is understood the deal is worth around $625,000 a season with the Warriors to announce their successful poaching attempt on Niukore as early as Thursday.
Niukore’s impending defection comes in the wake of revelations that Parramatta teammate and Queensland Origin squad member Reed Mahoney had met for secret talks with Canterbury coach Trent Barrett and football boss Phil Gould.
Niukore was off-contract at the end of next season and will complete his commitments with Parramatta in 2022 before the Auckland product returns to his country of birth at the Warriors.
The Eels were hoping to retain the hard-running back-rower, but Parramatta have 11 off-contract top liners to secure beyond next season, headlined by Clint Gutherson, Junior Paulo, Mahoney and Ryan Matterson.
The Warriors were among a number of clubs circling Niukore in recent months and the New Zealand outfit has sealed the deal with a four-year mega offer that blew the Eels out of the water.
The 25-year-old made his NRL debut in 2018 and has since amassed 77 top-grade games for the Eels, enjoying arguably his finest season this year to help Parramatta to another finals appearance.
Parramatta bosses have come under fire for having so many key players off-contract at the same time and the loss of Niukore will amplify pressure on Eels powerbrokers to retain the likes of Gutherson, Mahoney and Paulo.
Niukore was considered the most at risk of leaving, although the Eels were placed on red alert when Mahoney met with Bulldogs officials at Canterbury Leagues Club on Tuesday night.
News Corp revealed a month ago that Canterbury were circling Mahoney but video footage of his meeting with Bulldogs officials no doubt caused mild panic at Eels headquarters as they digested the prospect of a big-money bid from the Bulldogs to lure their hooker to Belmore.
While they retain a fighting chance with Mahoney, the battle for Niukore’s signature has been lost and his departure leaves a void that the Eels may struggle to fill.
St George Illawarra were also in the mix for the Cook Islands international but it is understood the Dragons were informed earlier this week that it was down to the Warriors and Parramatta.
The Warriors eventually held sway with a lucrative offer that means Parramatta must now make it a priority to retain Gutherson, Mahoney and Isaiah Papali’i as they attempt to stop the bleeding.
The Warriors have lured Shaun Johnson home for next season and the Kiwi club has also been linked with Joseph Manu, Dylan Brown and Luke Metcalf as potential teammates for Niukore in 2023.
Originally published as NRL 2022: Andrew Johns tinkering with Newcastle attack, Kalyn Ponga’s switch to playmaker
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