Newcastle NRLW coach Ronald Griffiths believes star fullback Tamika Upton can take her game to new heights and emerge as a club leader after signing a record deal to remain at the Knights for the next five seasons.
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Griffiths, who remains at the helm after guiding the Knights to their first NRLW title in 2022, hailed Upton's retention on a five-year contract last month as a "landmark occasion for the club".
Upton joined Newcastle ahead of last season after winning consecutive titles with Brisbane and starred at fullback, scoring five tries in as many appearances.
She was a key factor in Newcastle's premiership triumph and won the Karen Murphy Medal as player of the match in the 32-12 grand final win over Parramatta.
"What she brought last year in terms of athleticism and rugby league nous, was sensational," Griffiths said.
"Then we got here and understood that there are so many more layers to Tamika.
"We think that eight months on, with further development, we'll see a different player again.
"But not only that, the one thing Tamika was keen on was to really embed herself in our community, with our organisation. Anyone from Newcastle will understand we're very patriotic, Novocastrians, so to have someone like her come on board and embed herself in the community and be part of what we're trying to achieve here, long term, is fantastic."
When the Knights weighed up who to sign for this year, a task made more difficult because every player was off contract and four new teams have joined the NRLW, Griffiths said Upton was "certainly at the top of the list".
She was the first signing the club unveiled before confirming the retention of Hannah and Jesse Southwell (five years), Yasmin Clydsdale and in recent days Caitlan Johnston (three years) and Shanice Parker (two years).
Asked where he felt Upton could make gains in her game, Griffiths said he expected the 26-year-old's leadership to "really evolve".
"There's players that make you better coaches and the players around them better; one, because of their football intellect, and two, because they want to be mentally stimulated in terms of wanting to know more about the game and how we can evolve our team as a whole," he said.
"But further to that, the age she is now and with settled into our community on a long-term deal, I think we'll see her leadership come to the fore. Last year, she was a touch reserved at times, but I think she will settle in a leadership role ... and we'll see her grow as a person."
Griffiths said it was too early to be talking about whether Upton could be part of the side's captaincy model. Hannah Southwell and Millie Boyle were co-captains in 2022, but Boyle has joined Sydney Roosters.
A three-time Queensland Origin player, Upton said she was eager to push for further representative honours despite pulling out of both the All Stars fixture in February and World Cup late last year.
Her decision to skip playing for the Indigenous All Stars was based on the risk of injury potentially hampering her ability to earn a club contract. But explaining withdrawing from the Australian squad, Upton said she prioritised giving her body a break.
"You always want to be able to push yourself, but it just wasn't the right timing. I needed to look after my body," she said. "I hadn't gone through a full season without getting injured, really, in the NRLW. It was about building my body up and taking time out. I've built my body now to a point [where] I'm feeling good. I've played a couple of games ... and I've honestly never felt better.
"So taking that time out and actually having a full off-season working on my body has paid off for me."
Newcastle begin the NRLW season at home against the Dragons on July 22.
