’Turned on him’: Knights coach facing split as details of roster clean-out emerge

A reported clean-out at the Newcastle Knights has created a “disgruntled playing group” with players said to be turning on coach Adam O’Brien.

Adam O'Brien is under pressure.

There’s a clean-out starting to take place at the Newcastle Knights and it’s created a “disgruntled playing group.”

That is according to veteran News Corp journalist Phill Rothfield who revealed on NRL 360 that the big roster decisions are even starting to cause a divide between coach Adam O’Brien and his players.

The Knights lured Peter O’Sullivan recently and the recruitment guru has wasted no time in “tapping players on the shoulder and saying ‘go and try your luck somewhere else’,” Rothfield explained.

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“What this has done is formed a disgruntled playing group and I don’t think they’re putting in to the best of their ability,” he added.

“The players, I’m told, have turned on the coach a little bit in that he hasn’t had more to say in the recruitment area.

“If you go to any organisation, you’re still live in the finals two weeks ago, and you tap half a dozen players (on the shoulder)...

“And then they blame the coach. I’m not suggesting for one minute that Adam O’Brien’s job is under pressure. What I am saying is the dressing room is a little bit off him at the moment.”

The Knights are in strife. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)

O’Brien’s job should be safe regardless of the fallout of the clean-out after the club rewarded him in February with a new deal following their 10-game winning streak which got them to a semi-final.

“They’re in a jam though because the club management decided last year to give Adam O’Brien a three-year extension so even if there are rumblings in the dressing room and there are some players disgruntled it’s going to be a hard line decision for them,” Fox League’s James Hooper said on NRL 360.

But to add another layer to the clean-out, Hooper pointed out that three of the players that have been told to look elsewhere are a part of the Knights’ inflated leadership group.

“The other thing I find strange up there is the leadership group,” he said.

“They had an eight-player leadership group, which seems like a hell of a lot of players. Today it’s been extended to 10 — they’ve added another couple of players.

“And the other thing is of that leadership group, three of those players have now been tapped on the shoulder. So you can see why there are starting to be some rumblings out of the joint.”

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta reacted to that information by saying “that does sound like a mess.”

It comes after Rothfield told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast on Monday morning that since arriving in Newcastle O’Sullivan has found “a very, very messy salary cap and players he’s going to have to move.”

Newcastle Knights coach Adam O'Brien. Picture: NRL Photos

In particular, Rothfield mentioned the potential departures of Daniel and Jacob Saifiti, two of the club’s highest earning players who rake in around $800,000 a season but have failed to perform to the level their pay packet demands this season.

Daniel Saifiti, who is averaging a career-low 90 running metres per game this season, has reportedly been shopped around other clubs, with the St George Illawarra Dragons his likeliest landing spot, after the towering prop met with Shane Flanagan recently.

Newcastle were similarly placed on the NRL ladder last season, only for superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga to explode into form over the season’s final section to elevate the Knights into fifth position.

While O’Brien’s side remain a mathematical chance of qualifying for the finals should they win all of their remaining games this season, Rothfield believes 2024 is over for the Knights.

“That is not going to happen,” he said on Monday morning of their finals chances.

This means Newcastle are now operating with one eye on the next season, and highlights the importance of O’Sullivan’s job.

While the club’s forward pack, including the Saifiti brothers, has largely underperformed this season, Rothfield believes O’Sullivan’s clean out may have casualties across the board.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do around the halves,” he said.

“Jackson Hastings is a talking point, isn’t he? Because every playmaker is in this competition, and when you don’t make the eight and when you have a dusty year you look at your number seven before anything else.

“There’s going to be some tough decisions made there with limited resources.”

Newcastle have several stars off contract at the end of 2025, including Hastings, Englishmen Will Pryce and Kai Pearce-Paul, Jayden Brailey, Jack Hetherington, Adam Elliot and Dylan Lucas.

The Knights have several players out of contract at the end of 2025. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)

According to The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read, Brailey and Hetherington are two other Knights who could possibly be looking for a new club next season.

Speaking on NRL 360 earlier this month, Read revealed the enormity of O’Sullivan’s task.

“They’ve got cap issues, that’s for sure. Peter O’Sullivan has gone in and had a look under the bonnet and I don’t think he’s happy,” Read said.

“You can’t be over the cap because the NRL won’t register the contracts, (so) they can’t be.

“They are in a position where their roster spots are filled.

“They can’t sign any more players because their cap is at its absolute limit.

“If they sign any more players they will go over the cap.”

O’Sullivan most recently oversaw the construction of the Dolphins’ inaugural NRL squad, which included signing the likes of Isaiya Katoa, Max Plath and Jack Bostock to mix with experienced stars like Kenny and Jesse Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi.

On top of assessing and rebuilding the club’s NRL roster, it’s believed O’Sullivan’s remit will extend across the Knights’ junior pathways systems.

Originally published as ’Turned on him’: Knights coach facing split as details of roster clean-out emerge