The injury-plagued Newcastle Knights have signed New Zealand Warriors five-eighth Blake Green for the remainder of the season, as first reported by The Daily Telegraph.
With the Knights losing three of their last four games and having slipped to seventh on the NRL ladder, the signing of the 33-year old will be a huge boost for their finals hopes.
Green reportedly let his Warriors teammates know of his departure Tuesday morning at their training in Terrigal, with the deal to play for the Knights finalised the previous evening.
The 172-gamer will slide into five-eighth for the Knights, creating an interesting playmaking pair with Mitchell Pearce. Kurt Mann is set to move to hooker to replace the injured Andrew McCullough.
Due to being off-contract at the end of this season, Green's decision to leave early may have been influenced by recent criticism by the team's owner.
Immortal Andrew Johns recently has criticised the Warriors for letting the veteran five-eighth go.
"It leaves them without a rudder," Johns said.
"They've always been a club with so much potential, they have such a big team, but they've always lacked direction since Stacey Jones retired.
"Blake Green has done a marvellous job there, he's a really great game manager. He's not one of those players that will win you a game.
"But he keeps them on track. He's the rudder in the ship that keeps them going. Without him, I don't know who organizes the team."
The Warriors confirmed Green's departure in a statement via the club website.
โWe were committed to Blake staying with us for the rest of the season but he and his management have indicated they want an immediate release,โ Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George said.
โGiven the circumstances we have granted his request.
โWe thank Blake for the contribution he has made to the Vodafone Warriors over the last three years and wish him and his family all the best for the future.โ
