After the Newcastle Knights dropped a bombshell on Daniel Saifiti's future, two of his current teammates have also reportedly been given permission to leave and negotiate with rival teams.
The news to revamp their roster comes after they recently signed Recruitment Boss Peter O'Sullivan from The Dolphins, who is highly regarded in rugby league circles and played a pivotal role in helping the Dolphins, Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters in the past.
As the club looks to ease salary cap pressure, Jack Hetherington and club skipper Jayden Brailey have both been given permission to explore their options and negotiate with rival teams, per News Corp.
The bombshell news comes despite them both being signed for one more season until the end of 2025.
However, should all three players depart, the club will have a $2 million war chest to recruit new players or upgrade youngsters through their junior ranks.
It is understood that Saifiti is on $800,000, Brailey is on $550,000, and Hetherington is on around $550,000-600,000 for the 2025 season.
Signed from the Canterbury Bulldogs, Hetherington has made 12 appearances this season but hasn't been able to push himself into the starting team, with all of his games coming off the interchange bench.
Given that Kai Pearce-Paul and Dylan Lucas have alternated in the starting second-row spot alongside Tyson Frizell, Hetherington's days have been outnumbered for some time.
On the other hand, Jayden Brailey has played 13 games but hasn't looked the same since returning from the ACL injury that ruled him out of 2023.
His departure will allow Phoenix Crossland to have more game-time in the dummy-half role with several playmakers competing for the utility interchange bench position.
