The Newcastle Knights have set their sights on re-signing Mitchell Pearce and Bradman Best on deals that will allow the two players to remain at the club for the rest of their careers.
It comes after the Knights secured Kalyn Ponga on a $4.4 million contract that expires at the end of 2024 and brought over NSW and Australian forward Tyson Frizell on a three-year deal that begins from 2021.
Newcastle chief executive Philip Gardner has revealed the club has opened negotiations with halfback Mitchell Pearce, who is contract until the end of next year.
"Certainly, we're very keen on extending Mitch," Gardner told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"We would obviously like to see Mitch finish his career with us and I think that's what Mitch would like too. We're talking about what that looks like and what life after football looks like."
Gardner believes Pearce's leadership skills will see him remain at the club after his football career ends.
"We have [plans for him]. He is already showing his leadership in bringing young guys like Tex Hoy and Phoenix Crossland through and we have a lot of good juniors coming through as well.
"We think it's pretty important to have someone like Mitch providing that mentorship and training.
"If you look at the impact Andrew Johns has had at Parramatta this year, it's been absolutely fantastic. We think Mitch can do the same here.
"We are hoping that's where it all ends up. That's all being negotiated. We want to focus Mitch on this year's result, we've had a really good start to the year and he's playing great football.
"He knows the high reward we hold him in and he's getting married at the end of the year. He's got a lot going on and we'd like to see him long term in our region."
Gardner wants to see Bradman Best remain at the club for as long as he can. The 18-year-old three-quarter could play representative footy in the future, with NSW coach Brad Fittler describing him as a potential pick for this year's State of Origin series.
His signature is a priority for Gardner.
One hundred per cent," Gardner told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Bradman epitomises everything the Knights are about. He's our local guy, he's come through our system and you just put him p there in the red and blue. He's special.
"We'd like to hold him as long as we possibly can."
Gardner believes Kalyn Ponga will be the poster boy for the NRL for years to come.
"This kid is bigger off the field than he is on," he said. "He is going to be the face of the game over the next three or four years."