Matt Scott appears increasingly likely to join Newcastle in 2018, potentially joining fellow Cowboy Kalyn Ponga as the Knightโs high-profile signings for 2018.
Scott turns 32 in July, putting him in the twilight of his career. The Cowboys have offered their co-captain a two-year deal worth $1.2 million, a contract that would ensure the prop finished his career in Townsville a one-club player. On the other hand, Newcastle are handing him $2.7 million over three years, blowing the Cowboys out of the water. With his playing days coming to an end, a move to the Hunter Valley looks certain, with Scott himself saying he's not afraid to leave Townsville.
โHopefully I can sort something out with the Cowboys but Iโm definitely not tied down up there. Itโs probably my last big contract, so itโs very important that I get it right and make sure itโs right for myself and my family. If thatโs moving clubs or staying at the Cowboys Iโm yet to see.โ
Carrying an impressive CV, Scott has done it all in the game. He co-captained North Queensland to their maiden premiership in 2015, won several Origin series, World Cups, and a World Cup Challenge with a Dally M Prop of the Year to boot. Itโs not often a player of Matt Scottโs calibre comes around, and to a struggling side like Newcastle, he could turn them around.
Back-to-back wooden-spooners Newcastle have strengthened their forward pack after only winning one game in 2016, signing Manly hard-men Jamie Buhrer and Josh Starling and former Kangaroo Anthony Tupou, while Rory Kostjasyn is a premiership-winning utility set to become the Knightโs full-time hooker in 2017. While they all have their merits, Scott is on another level to them.
While theyโre stacked with youth, by 2020 (the final year of Scottโs supposed three-year contract) Newcastle could be a very different club. Jacob and Daniel Saifiti will be in their fifth of first-grade, but having an international prop show them the ropes, theyโll rise to another level. Sione Mataโutia has also transitioned into a back-rower recently, handing the Knights a strong foundation for the future. While these youngsters arenโt quite up to the rigours of week-in, week-out NRL football, in five yearsโ time, they could be anything.
A club with Kalyn Ponga calling shots from the back, young halves organising the side and a youthful pack, the Knights have all the cogs to build a premiership-winning team for the future, bar one. But with Matt Scott set to spearhead the Knightโs forward pack, it seems the last cog will finally be in place, and Newcastle are certain to reap the rewards in years to come.
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