Utility star Connor Watson has revealed he has taken the extraordinary step of personally ringing rival NRL coaches over the past few weeks in a bid to ascertain his worth on the open market as he baulks at signing a new deal with the Newcastle Knights.
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Watson is off contract at the end of the season and is handling his own affairs with the help of Kalyn Ponga's father Andre after splitting with his manager.
The Knights have tabled a new deal for the 25-year-old with Watson admitting he is disappointed with the terms and currently considering his options and testing his market value elsewhere.
"I love this club - I've grown up loving the Knights and ideally, I want to stay and win a comp here,"Watson told the Newcastle Herald.
"That could still happen. But I want to make a decision that's right for me and I want to get what I feel like I deserve.
"I'm not sure how much room the club has in the [salary] cap. They have signed a few players here on big money and we've got a heap of blokes who are wanting to re-sign at the moment so we'll have to see how it goes."
Watson said the Knights' latest offer is "not where I want it to be at the moment" and it was mutually agreed he be given time to test the water elsewhere before coming back to the club.
Because he doesn't have a manager to do his heavy lifting, Watson has been spending countless hours on the phone himself over the past fortnight ringing coaches and CEO's to gauge interest.
"It's very different doing it yourself and at the start, I thought about getting someone to just do this deal for me," he said.
"But I stuck at it and I've got to say that, as a person, I feel like the responsibility is helping me grow a lot, having those sorts of conversations.
"The one thing I've learnt already is you just have to not take things personally because the club has a job to do but I also have a job to do for myself.
"At the moment, I think I'll just keep doing it and Andre is helping me out with the guys here [at the Knights] which is good.
"I've been ringing some coaches at other clubs to talk to them about my situation so it's been an interesting process."
Watson said he hoped to have his future decided within the next three weeks but is not concerned about it.
"I said this to the Knights that last year I left myself in a vulnerable position because I didn't have anything done and I went and got that big injury [ruptured Achilles]," he said.
"I was grateful to finally get something sorted then so that's why I'm trying to get it moving a bit quicker this time and pushing the Knights on it and maybe having to make some big calls.
"I don't know how much, if any, wriggle room the Knights have. Like I said, we'll just see how things go. In any negotiation, it's about trying to meet in the middle somewhere I guess."
Knights officials are not commenting on the Watson negotiations but they anticipate he will give them a final opportunity to sign him if he comes back with a concrete offer from a rival club that he is serious about.
Coach Adam O'Brien left no doubts about where he stands on Watson, saying yesterday he is a strong supporter of the utility star and wants him to remain at the club longer term.
"Of course I want him to stay," O'Brien said. "I don't involved myself in the financial aspect of negotiations with players but Connor is a highly valued member of our squad and I'd like to think he won't be going anywhere else."
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