Knight’s coach Nathan Brown discusses recruitment

At the halfway mark of the season, Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown gave an update on recruitment in his weekly press conference this week.

“If the right player came up we’d certainly sign them,” explained Brown.

“If the right one doesn’t come up, we’ll certainly have to wait until next year.

“Our roster will change dramatically next year and whilst we haven’t signed anyone, we’re certainly talking to a lot of players who we think can help our squad.”

Sydney Roosters forward Aidan Guerra has been one player on the radar.

“We have certainly had a chat with Aidan,” Brown confirmed.

“It would be good to have a player with his experience; he’s been in Origin and won grand finals and is a bloke that could certainly help our squad."

The coach says the focus is to recruit players for the long term benefit of the Club.

“Anyone we’re talking to is more for next year... but as we’ve seen in this game, strange things happen with people moving at different stages,” Brown commented.

“We have had a number of players that have approached the Club, one or two that were keen to come here.

“I know we keep saying that but it’s no good paying big money for the wrong players.

“We certainly have the finance to do it but it’s just whether the players are right.

“We are looking at some players in clubs that are doing very well and I don’t think those clubs will let them go now because they’ll all be looking to play finals football.

“We certainly think that for our squad going forward we do need a few middles.”

Brown maintains there are a lot of valuable players on the market.

“As we’ve seen with the ongoing saga with where the salary cap is going to be, there’s going to be a lot more good players available,” Brown explained.

“And there is going to be a lot more player movement yet."