Incoming Newcastle Knight Lachlan Miller is still a work in progress

The Knights have doggedly pursued the Cronulla utility back for several months now and are expected to confirm within days that he is joining them to complete a new-look spine.

Miller's arrival will allow skipper Kalyn Ponga to make a permanent transition from fullback to five-eighth. Combine them with the game management of new halfback Jackson Hastings and the reliability of hooker Jayden Brailey, and the key positions all look pretty solid, on paper at least.

In his seven NRL games for Cronulla last season, Miller showed enough X-factor to catch Newcastle's attention.

A former rugby union sevens international who represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics, Miller is obviously an outstanding athlete.

You don't last long in sevens if you're not fast, agile and supremely fit.

That skill set enabled the 28-year-old to make a successful transition to the 13-man game and, having cast aside his L-plates, he should theoretically be even better with that experience under his belt.

But if the Sharks took a gamble when they offered Miller a chance to cross codes, the Knights would appear to have raised the stakes even higher, by offering a far larger contract, as well as a player in exchange - teenage prop Max Bradbury, who is being groomed for an NRL debut in the not-too-distant future.

If Miller can establish himself at the back, freeing Ponga up to pick and choose his moments at pivot, he might well prove to be one of the signings of the season.

But there is an element of risk, given that no player can be considered the finished product after just seven appearances in the top grade.

With Hastings, the Knights should have a pretty good idea of what they're getting, after his previous stints in the NRL with Sydney Roosters, Manly and Wests Tigers, and the four seasons he spent in the English Super League.

Miller is more of an unknown quantity. We've seen glimpses of what he does well, but perhaps not as much evidence of what he doesn't do so well.

Any deficiencies in his game will become more apparent when he plays on a weekly basis, and opposition teams will ruthlessly try to exploit them.

The question I find myself pondering is whether he will offer the Knights much more than local junior Tex Hoy.

That might seem a ridiculous proposition, considering the Knights were happy to release the often-maligned Hoy at the end of last season to join Full FC in Super League.

The statistics, however, might surprise you.

Miller averaged 148 attacking metres per game last season, Hoy 142.

They each scored three tries, Hoy from 12 games and Miller from seven.

Hoy produced five try assists, Miller just the one. Hoy made 65 tackles and missed 13, for an 83.3 per cent efficiency rating, while Miller made 25 and missed 11 (69 per cent).

And remember that Miller was playing behind the NRL's third-best defensive team. Hoy was playing behind the third-worst.

At 23, Hoy is five years younger than Miller but has an extra 22 NRL games to his name.

He was reportedly also on a bargain-basement deal, as opposed to the big money the Knights are apparently willing to invest in Miller.

If Miller delivers what the Knights are hoping for, he will be worth every cent and could well develop into a crowd favourite at McDonald Jones Stadium.

But as Tex Hoy might testify, expectations will be high and the critics unforgiving.

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