Knights coach Adam O'Brien says skipper Mitchell Pearce is going nowhere and categorically denied the club is looking to off-load him to an NRL rival for next season.
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Pearce has been the subject of media speculation over the past couple of weeks with claims the Knights would be open to a swap deal involving their chief playmaker if the right player was offered up in return.
It was even suggested on Channel Nine on Monday that there had been rumours of a potential deal between the Knights and Parramatta involving Pearce and Mitchell Moses following the Eels' exit from the premiership race at the hands of South Sydney last weekend.
O'Brien was quick to rubbish and put to bed any talk of the club manoeuvring to squeeze Pearce out when quizzed by the Newcastle Herald.
"It's definitely not true," the Knights coach said. "No discussion of a player swap for Mitchell has ever been had in any recruitment or retention meeting I've been in."
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Pearce, who is off-contract at the end of 2021, has had his detractors this season and copped the brunt of the blame whenever his side's attack looked clunky and ineffectual.
He wasn't the dominant force he was in 2019 when he returned mid-season in Origin lll to help the NSW Blues take out the series over the Maroons. But O'Brien remains one of his biggest fans and believes no-one suffered from the club's horror injury run more than his skipper.
"He didn't miss a game and tried his absolute butt off every time he ran out for us," O'Brien said. "And when you are talking about our injuries, no one was hurt more by them than Mitchell. He was having to deal with playing alongside a different nine or a different six nearly every week with different skill sets and that just heaped pressure on him to run the show."
The Knights were forced to use five different hookers at various stages while Pearce played alongside three different starting five-eighths.
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