Newcastle Knights players excited by club’s potential after confirmation of David Klemmer signing
It’s a strange feeling for Newcastle players and fans — belief. After years in the wilderness, the capture of David Klemmer makes the Knights a fierce prospect, confident of their chances for 2019.
NEWCASTLE Knights players have declared the addition of David Klemmer takes the NRL club’s chances to another level.
The NSW and Kangaroos forward’s five-year, $4.3 million move from Canterbury to the Hunter was confirmed on Monday afternoon, making the Knights’ pack a fierce prospect for 2019.
“Klem’s 25. He’s a regular for Australia, a regular for NSW,” Newcastle coach Nathan Brown said.
“It’s the first time the Knights have had a front-rower that’s a regular in those teams since as far back as ‘Chief’ (Paul Harragon).”
Klemmer joins the squad alongside Origin forward Tim Glasby and enforcer James Gavet adding serious grunt and experience to young props like the Saifiti brothers and Herman Ese’ese.
The Knights know they have no excuses as they aim for their first finals appearance since 2013.
“You don’t rely on one player but it’s like saying if the Cowboys don’t have Thurston are they going to go as well?” Pearce said.
“I think Klemmer is only going to add to us. He’s the Australian front-rower and he’ll definitely add a massive thing to our team.
“The club’s been talking for a while about getting that alpha male up the front. And they couldn’t have picked any better guy than Klemmer to come to the club.
“You need that marquee front-rower. James Gavet, he’s been really good and been talking a fair bit around training and he’s come in with a good intention to really lead and that’s been pretty impressive.
“He’s a pretty scary looking dude, so if he’s a leader for us, which you can tell straight away, he’s actually quite a smooth customer. You can tell he’s quite savvy and a smart guy so if he steps up for us in that role and Klem and Timmy Glasby, it’s a smart pack.”
Even Gavet said he was relieved to be playing in the Knights pack rather than against it.
With a mix of smarts, aggression and youthful experience, he thinks the Knights have the right mix among the big men.
“You’ve got everything there. You’ve got Timmy, he’s a really smart footballer. His style of footy is a typical Melbourne style. For guys like me who crash and bash, they tend to clean up a bit, they’re unsung heroes,” Gavet said.
“Whereas me and Klem will be the upfront and in your face kind of guys.
“Then you’ve got the Saifiti boys, some of the young boys that have been bled into first grade, they’ve been rag-dolling us around at training.
“For us to show the way and them to follow, it’s a scary pack and I wouldn’t want to play against it, that’s for sure.”
Klemmer is the Knights’ second off-season marquee signing in two years after they swooped on Pearce this time last year.
With Pearce at the helm and Kalyn Ponga delivering in his first season, Newcastle went from three wooden spoons to an 11th place finish in 2018.
Pearce won’t go as far as to put them as top-four contenders in 2019, but said there’s a new mentality around what they can achieve on the back of the team that has been assembled.
“You go into every comp to win the comp. You train to be the best you can be with the side you have. Everything else takes care of itself. We’d be disappointed if we don’t make the finals that’s for sure,” he said.
“That’s the thing, is probably the shift in mentality and belief … I think the boys have grown a bit last year realising there’s a chance of climbing up the ladder.
“One thing this year is I don’t think there’s any doubt about the level we can get to, before there probably was.
“But that’s probably one thing I’ve noticed with training or getting older, I don’t know what it is but there’s definitely no doubt about that.”
BEST 17
How the Knights could line up in round 1, 2019
1. Connor Watson, 2. Edrick Lee, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Tautau Moga, 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6. Kalyn Ponga, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Tim Glasby, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Aidan Guerra, 13. Mitch Barnett, 14. Herman Ese’ese, 15. James Gavet, 16. Jamie Buhrer, 17. Sione Mata’utia
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