The Newcastle Knights have revealed their plans to use the United Kingdom as a talent hunting ground following the successful move of Dominic Young.
It's a plan which involves scouting talent, and using their own players at the end of their career to do so, creating an environment where Newcastle players will be encouraged to finish their careers in the United Kingdom or France, as Mitchell Pearce is doing this year following his move to the Catalan Dragons.
Plenty of English players have made their way into the NRL over the past decade, most notably and recently at the Canberra Raiders, who at one point had all of John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead, George Williams and Josh Hodgson on their roster.
Other stars who have tried their hands down under include the Burgess brothers, James Graham, Gareth Ellis and Sam Tomkins.
The Knights last year acquired Dominic Young from the Huddersfield Giants, despite the fact he had played just two English Super League games, while they also added Bailey Hodgson, who had played just a single game for the Castleford Tigers.
Young has impressed at NRL level, particularly this year, with the two-metre tall winger already scoring three tries in four games to go with four in six that he managed last year.
Hodgson has been hampered by injury, but the Knights still have "high hopes" for the young fullback and centre.
Speaking to The Newcastle Herald, Knights CEO Phil Gardner said the club want more English players, and were willing to use their own players to do so.
"We'd like to regularly have English players coming into the club. They add something to the club and the fans love them," Gardner said.
"If our players can spend a couple of years at the end of their careers playing in England, it's good for them and also a recruitment tool for us.
"We can ask for their opinions of the players over there, and they can help spread the word that the Knights are a good club to play for. That all helps with the process."
It's understood the Knights are deep in discussions to sign Huddersfield utility back Will Pryce, and Wigan second rower Kai Pearce-Paul, among other targets.
Both players carry more experience than Young or Hodgson did when signed, but marginally so, with Pryce, at just 19, having already played 13 games for Huddersfield, as well as one for the England Knights, while Pearce-Paul, at 21, is 19 games into his career with Wigan, having made his debut in the 2020 English Super League season.
