‘Wow’: Dylan Brown contract twist re-writes history

A “mind-blowing” detail of Newcastle Knights’ plot to snare Dylan Brown from Parramatta has emerged, with the club reportedly misled.

Newcastle and the entire NRL landscape was reportedly misled before the club offered up one of the richest contracts in the history of the sport.

That’s one of several extraordinary details to have emerged after the Kiwi playmaker’s monster 10-year-deal, reportedly worth more than $13 million, was announced this week.

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Debate has raged about the high-stakes contract with the biggest gamble being Brown’s potential struggles to transition from five-eigth to halfback.

Another divisive battleground is the sheer size of the contract, considering the club already has Kalyn Ponga, reportedly the highest paid player in the sport.

It was reported last week the Eels weren’t budging on the contract Brown signed which could have taken the 24-year-old through to the end of the 2031 season.

Because of contract clauses in Brown’s favour, he was able to put himself on the open market, having up until Round 10 to activate a clause to keep him at the club.

Instead, the Knights came out swinging and threw the broke the bank to get their man.

It’s now emerged the Knights were only ever in a two-horse race with the Eels.

Dylan Brown fronts media for the first time since his Knights deal.

It means the bidding war would not have been further fuelled by a third party driving up Brown’s price.

It makes it all the more intriguing that the Knights paid such a fortune to snare a player that only two clubs were interested in.

It had been reported in February that a third club was in the race for Brown’s signature, but that the club did not want to be named publicly. That history has now been re-written.

Leading rugby league journalist David Riccio on Wednesday said the lack of interest in Brown across the rest of the competition was just one of many intriguing parts of the contract.

“This is part of the layer upon layer of intrigue in this contract,” Riccio said on SEN Breakfast in Sydney.

“Ten years is the mind-blowing part of it. The $1.3 million is part of it. It’s extreme for a lot of fans and a lot of commentators. But then the other layer is that they (Newcastle) absolutely want him as their No. 7 and we just haven’t seen it.

“That’s the other layer of the mind-blowing aspect of this huge gamble that the Knights are taking.”

Riccio went on to say: “I never believed there was. I’ve got another layer here. This is like a Big Mac burger this one. It’s just got layer upon layer.

“I think Newcastle were only bidding against Parramatta. There was only one buyer. Which makes the deal even more extraordinary.

Dylan Brown during Parramatta Eels training at Eels HQ in Kellyville. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“In all of my enquiries around the game. The Warriors were a great example. Dylan obviously has heritage in New Zealand. He was born there. Not even the Warriors were interested at any point.

“And then you start to go around the clubs as far as their appeal and interest levels are concerned. It just wasn’t there. There was a whisper about St George Illawarra. Saints couldn’t have been quick enough to shoot it down. I was always of the opinion it was the Knights and Knights only.”

Panthers legend Greg Alexander responded to the report on SEN Breakfast by saying: “Wow. I guess it was the fact he was going to work for the Eels for the next six years at $1.1 million”.

It comes as The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie on Wednesday morning revealed another key detail.

The veteran reporter said the contract is actually for eight years with an additional two-year option in the club’s favour.

Brown broke his silence in a press conference on Wednesday where he said his decision to join the Knights was not about money.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I play the best that I can and the offers are put in front of me, so I’d be silly not to take it,” he said.

“Money has never really been a thing for me, it’s the 10 years of security. I just signed a deal with Parra before then, and that was 10 years and it was purely based on security.

“Like I said before, it’s for my family and my future in the game.”