Toohey's News: the big recruiting decision the Knights must get right

At some point over the next six months, coach Adam O'Brien and head of football Peter Parr will have to come up with a strategy to sign a halfback capable of leading Newcastle to a premiership within the next five years.

With just seven players from the top 30 off contract this year and Jackson Hastings among the club's highest-paid players coming into the final year of his deal, there will be little room to move on the recruitment front for 2025.

But only nine senior players - Ponga, Bradman Best, Jack Cogger, Phoenix Crossland, Tyson Frizell, Daniel and Jacob Saifiti, Greg Marzhew and Fletcher Sharpe - are signed for 2026, giving O'Brien and Parr scope to make some big recruitment calls going forward. While other positions will need bolstering, signing a dominant halfback has to be at the top of Newcastle's wishlist. Identifying and making a big financial play for the right player come November 1 will be crucial to the club's hopes of premiership success down the track.

No one is jumping out of the ground in the Knights' system as a long-term option. There are high hopes for Dolphins' under-19s halfback Zac Herdegen who the Knights pinched from the Broncos. A quality goalkicker, he'll be in Newcastle next season after finishing year 12 at Brisbane's Wavell Sports High.

Of the young halfbacks with NRL experience, few have more potential than Melbourne back-up Jonah Pezet, who is off contract at the end of next year and will be looking to move on if Jahrome Hughes continues to block his path. Despite suffering a season-ending knee injury last weekend, Pezet will be hotly pursued. Whether the former Knights junior, once viewed as Mitchell Pearce's likely successor, would entertain returning to his old club where his father Troy worked in recruitment is unclear.

Tyson Frizell's absence from the Knights squad to play the Warriors on Sunday left fans scratching their heads given there was an expectation he would return this week from a hamstring injury.

Even coach Adam O'Brien appeared certain Frizell, who has missed the past four games, would be back, saying as much publicly after the win over the Dolphins.

We're not sure what's caused the confusion but we're hearing Frizell may have stirred up the hamstring in his good leg during a rehab session two Sundays ago on the day the Knights played the Bulldogs, and it hasn't improved quickly enough.

Knights officials remain confident of re-signing senior assistant coach Brian McDermott despite speculation in England linking him to the coaching job at Hull FC.

The Knights are in negotiations with all three off-contract assistants and have been confident McDermott, Blake Green and Rory Kostjasyn would all commit to extensions.

But McDermott's name was tossed up last week as a contender for the vacant Hull job. McDermott is a four-time Super League premiership-winning coach but we're told he is enjoying his stint in Newcastle and would be reluctant to leave.

Off-contract centre Dane Gagai continues to make a compelling case to have his contract extended at the Knights beyond the end of the season.

He was inspirational in the absence of Kalyn Ponga and Tyson Frizell in Newcastle's vital win over the Dolphins last Sunday.

But despite his form, we understand the club is content at this stage to keep its powder dry to allow the veteran centre's management to shop him around to rival clubs to ascertain his value on the open market.

Sydney Roosters have reportedly spoken about Gagai as a possible signing option to replace departing centre Joey Manu.

The problem for the Knights in re-signing Gagai now is they have limited room in the cap for next year and while they'd like to keep the 33-year-old, they don't want to jump in and pay overs if interest elsewhere is only lukewarm.

Interestingly, when Gagai quit the Knights at the end of 2017 to join South Sydney, it was because he felt unloved, claiming Newcastle was tardy during negotiations. Could Groundhog Day be approaching again?

Rd 8: Knights v Dolphins: 3 Dane Gagai 2 Jayden Brailey 1 David Armstrong.

Standings: 8 Kalyn Ponga, Dane Gagai 6 Kai Pearce-Paul 5 Leo Thompson 4 Tyson Frizell 3 Phoenix Crossland, Adam Elliott 2 Enari Tuala, Greg Marzhew, Dylan Lucas, Jayden Brailey 1 Bradman Best, David Armstrong.