They're huge wraps.

It's presumably why the Storm tried to lure the 21-year-old backrower to Australia three years ago before he joined Wigan and why at least six NRL clubs, including the Knights, are now chasing him.

The 196 cm, 100kg forward has become a key figure in Newcastle's recruitment plans after the club failed to persuade Cowboys young gun Heilum Luki to leave North Queensland and let Mitch Barnett walk out a year early to link with the Warriors.

Hoping to get ahead of the pack, recruitment boss Clint Zammit flew to England back in March for face-to-face discussions aimed at bringing Pearce-Paul and teenage Huddersfield playmaker Will Pryce to the Knights.

Underlining Pearce-Paul's interest in the NRL, his English manager Iestyn Harris has teamed up with Australian agent Sam Ayoub to assist with negotiations.

Ayoub told this column there is "genuine interest" from the Knights. "But there is a lot of water to go under the bridge yet," he said.

The kicker is Pearce-Paul and Pryce are still under contract for next season.

Young Knight Simi Sasagi faces a huge defensive challenge tomorrow up against granite-like Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam when he deputises for the injured Dane Gagai at McDonald Jones Stadium.

But in a real confidence-booster, his future at the Knights is set to be guaranteed for a further two seasons with the 21-year-old on the verge of signing a new deal.

Sasagi has only played five NRL games and this will be just his second starting appearance after he debuted in the centres against North Queensland in a 36-20 loss to the Cowboys in Townsville in May, 2020.

Dane Gagai was the form centre in the NRL after the opening two or three rounds and club officials speak in glowing terms of his influence within the squad on and off the field. But his recent efforts in defence must surely have raised concerns among the coaching staff.

In the opening three rounds, the now injured Gagai made 58 tackles and missed just four. But in four games since then, he has missed a staggering 24 tackles. He missed seven against both the Sharks and Dragons.

Defence has never been a Gagai strong point and it's something that will need addressing when he returns from a fractured cheekbone.

It was hoped a complete overhaul of the Knights high performance unit late last year, headed by the recruitment of highly experienced Hayden Knowles, would be the catalyst for a change of fortunes on the injury front.

Instead, the curse has continued and may even be worse. Injuries have plagued Adam O'Brien's tenure as coach. Right now, the Knights have eight of their top 30 out with Gagai and Hymel Hunt adding their names to the list last weekend.

"It's an annual event," O'Brien said. "We just have to hope our luck changes."

There is some good news on the injury front. Backrower Lachlan Fitzgibbon, who hasn't played since picking up a knee injury in round two against the Wests Tigers, is considered a good chance of returning a couple of weeks early against the Cowboys next Saturday. Fitzgibbon has taken up the option in his contract for next season.

It has to go down as the most costly 'miss' in Knights' recruitment history.

In the latest Toohey's News podcast out this week, Allan Bell, the former right hand man of inaugural coaches Allan McMahon and David Waite, reveals a miserly $1,500 cost the club Steve Renouf's signature before 'The Pearl' ultimately became one of the game's most brilliant running centres of all time.

Before joining the Broncos, Renouf agreed to terms with the Knights on a contract worth $8,500 a season but a club policy at the time of only offering young stars a maximum of $7000 meant officials wouldn't budge on the $1500. Renouf went on to score 185 tries in 242 appearances for Brisbane and Wigan and played for Queensland and Australia during a wonderful career.

It appears exiled Anthony Milford will not be given the green light to play NSW Cup for the club prior to his NRL ban expiring in three weeks time.

The Knights had hoped to give the ex-Bronco a lower grade hit-out before his NRL return in round 11 but it won't be happening.

That was confirmed to us this week by both the NRL and NSWRL.

Knights backrower Tyson Frizell has hung onto his slender one point lead in Baz's Best player of the year poll heading into tomorrow's round eight clash at home against the Melbourne Storm.

It follows a dismal team performance against Parramatta last Sunday that resulted in no players being awarded 3,2,1 points for the game.

So poor was the overall performance, no player was considered worthy of any recognition.

Progress points:

6 Tyson Frizell. 5 Chris Randall, Kurt Mann. 4 Dane Gagai, Jake Clifford. 3 Kalyn Ponga, Dom Young. 2 David Klemmer, Tex Hoy. 1 Bradman Best, Mitch Barnett.

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