Newcastle Knights could be more than $1 million under NRL salary cap if Jarrod Mullen leaves the club

NEWCASTLE could start the season more than $1 million under the salary cap as the Knights plan to chase some of the game’s biggest names.

BATTLERS Newcastle could start the season more than $1 million under the salary cap as coach Nathan Brown builds an imposing financial war chest to go after some of the biggest names in the game for 2018.

One player in Newcastle’s sights is Cronulla Origin star Jack Bird with the Knights now set to be in a position to launch a huge bid to entice him away from the premiers.

While Jarrod Mullen’s positive test to an anabolic steroid may have cast a shadow over the club and end his career, it could also open the door for a radical overhaul of the Knights’ playing roster.

PRESSURE TOLD FOR MULLEN

Mullen’s drug fail could mean a fresh start for the Knights. Photo: Peter Lorimer.

Heavily favoured to win a third straight wooden spoon this season, the Knights are understood to have around $500,000 still left in the cap even before the veteran playmaker’s positive test to prohibited substance Drostanolone was revealed on Tuesday.

The club has been sitting on the money to pay North Queensland young gun Kayln Ponga in the off-chance he may be released by the Cowboys a season early, which now appears highly unlikely.

There were also funds set aside should a player of interest come on the market from a rival club prior to June 30.

Brown’s war chest could now potentially balloon by a further $600,000 before the start of the 2017 season if Mullen’s positive test for Drostanolone is confirmed and he is handed a four-year ban.

Mullen’s $750,000-a-season contract for 2017 and 2018 will effectively be ripped up if he is banned.

It is estimated he has already been paid around $150,000 over the past three months.

There could even be a further significant saving for the Knights should prop Korbin Sims, who has been in talks with the Brisbane Broncos, come to an agreement and depart before the season kicks off.

While Newcastle have gone through a horror patch that has seen them collect consecutive wooden spoons in 2015 and 2016 with a third spoon a distinct possibility this season, Brown and football general manager Darren Mooney have been working on a longer term strategy to drag the club out of the doldrums.

Could Jack Bird be tempted away from the premiers? Picture: Brett Costello

The centrepiece of the plan has been to create enough cap space to chase several marquee names for 2018 with number of the game’s biggest stars coming off contract.

At the same time, the Knights have 19 of their own fulltime squad coming to the end of their deals which will put the club in an extremely strong position to radically overhaul and improve their roster.

Knights CEO Matt Gidley said the club will be “swinging a pretty big bat” when it comes to the player market given the money they have to spend.

“I don’t want to speculate on Jarrod’s issue and what may or may not happen but even before then, we have been in the marketplace and talking to some big names,” he said.

Originally published as Newcastle Knights could be more than $1 million under NRL salary cap if Jarrod Mullen leaves the club