Newcastle Knights duo on the market for Super League clubs
Two NRL players could be on the radar of several Super League clubs, after Newcastle Knights have given them permission to leave the club.
The Knights have had an up-and-down season, and had lostthree straight games before Bradman Best’s two runaway tries secured a victory over Parramatta Eels this weekend.
A key story in that game was Will Pryce, formerly of Huddersfield Giants, making his NRL debut, and scoring an early try.
The Knights are looking to make changes to the roster particularly because they want to free up salary cap space.
One man they’re reportedly looking to let go is Daniel Saifiti, despite the former NSW State of Origin representative being under contract through 2026
According to News Corp, they’re now also looking to let two more players leave – long-time player and captain Jayden Brailey, and forward Jack Hetherington.
Newcastle Knights duo on the market for Super League clubs
Hetherington, who only joined the side for this season, hasn’t started any games, instead making 12 appearances from the bench.
He’s behind former Wigan Warriors star Kai Pearce-Paul, Dylan Lucas and Tyson Frizell in the pecking order, so was always likely to head out of the club, despite being contracted through next year.
In addition, Jayden Brailey has struggled since his ACL injury, which caused him to miss most of the 2023 season.
He had started most games this year as hooker, but has instead been named on the bench for the last three games.
It’s expected that his departure would allow players such as Phoenix Crossland to have more game-time.
These departures could open up a potential signing for Super League sides, with very few high-quality Super League names left available to sign for 2025.
The sticking point could be the players’ salaries – they’re both understood to be on salaries of around 550,000 AUD – close to £300,000, which would be a large Super League salary.
