TOOHEY'S NEWS: Mitchell Moses would make an almighty alternative recruitment target for the Newcastle Knights

Little wonder the cashed-up Knights are preparing to step into the ring with a host of rival clubs to try and win the fight for his signature for 2024 when he is off contract at Melbourne.

The Knights could conceivably finish this season as much as $400,000 under the salary cap, due largely to the late departure of Mitchell Pearce and the late arrival of Anthony Milford.

With the salary cap set to increase next year, that puts the club in a very strong financial position to go after another marquee to partner Kalyn Ponga.

As we've said before, coach Adam O'Brien desperately needs a dominant playmaker if he is to succeed and hang onto his job long term. Munster is the one he wants but is there a plan B? We'll toss one up - Mitchell Moses.

We can't get an answer out of anyone at the Knights about whether Moses would be targeted if Munster becomes a bridge too far. But why wouldn't he be?

If you are talking playmakers, he's in the top five halfbacks in the NRL right now, is one of the premier goal-kickers and has the strongest general kicking game. He ticks plenty of boxes.

And while he might seem like part of the furniture at the Eels, he wouldn't have inserted a get-out clause in his current deal for 2024 if he wasn't at least thinking about the possibility of having a look around at alternatives when the time comes.

Many think Parramatta's premiership window may close after this season with the likes of Reed Mahoney, Isaiah Papali'i, Marata Niukore and possibly Ryan Matterson all departing to rival clubs. Who knows, by the middle of next season when he has to give the Eels an answer on his future, he may well have itchy feet. The big question is will the Knights be an attractive enough proposition by then to be in the picture to scratch them.

Their current form would suggest not but there wasn't anyone in the game who expected Pearce to leave Sydney and head up the freeway to the wooden spooners back in 2018.

The Knights need to dream big to become a force in this competition. If not Munster, than Moses. Show them the money and hold your breath.

Expect the Knights to turn their attention to attracting an outside back for next season now that the signings of Adam Elliott and Jack Hetherington have been confirmed. With Edrick Lee on the move at the end of the year, a replacement is seen as a priority.

When you're talking NRL success stories, there hasn't been too many bigger than Knights' English winger Dom Young. So it's no surprise to hear the club will be taking no chances when it comes to tying him down long-term.

Young 20, is off-contract at the end of next season and there will be a stampede of clubs lining up to have a crack at him come November if he hasn't extended.

No-one was more shocked than Mitch Barnett when the news dropped earlier this week that Warriors coach Nathan Brown and the club had parted ways.

Along with more money and added security, re-uniting with Brown, the man who enticed him to the Knights seven years ago, was a big part of the attraction for Barnett to link with the Warriors for the next 3 years.

With Brown now gone and no get-out clause, Barnett has told friends he is still comfortable with his decision and is fully committed to the move.

Still on Nathan Brown, despite the lack of results and some hefty scorelines against the Warriors leading up to his demise, there was never any suggestion he had lost the dressingroom.

Evidence of that was the impromptu Haka the players delivered in his honour after he told them he had coached his last game.

Unwanted Broncos hooker Jake Turpin's chances of finishing the season as a Newcastle Knight will likely rest on the success of injured star Jayden Brailey's recovery from a ruptured Achilles.

It's unlikely the Knights will pull the trigger on Turpin and sign him for the rest of the season unless Brailey's return next month is delayed for longer than expected.

He is tipped to be back in around four weeks.

The club has until August 1 to fill it's last roster spot in the top 30 and has the option of promoting from within. That would be the smart move if they are out of finals contention by the end of next month.

A remarkable purple patch of form has left Knights prop David Klemmer with a huge lead in Baz's Best player of the year standings mid-way through the season.

Klemmer has polled 12 points from a possible 15 in the club's last five games to hold a 7 point lead over nearest teammates Tyson Frizell and Dom Young. In that period, he picked up 3 man-of-match awards.

Progress points: 14 David Klemmer 7 Tyson Frizell, Dom Young, 6 Kalyn Ponga 5 Chris Randall, Kurt Mann 4 Dane Gagai, Jake Clifford, Mitch Barnett. 3 Anthony Milford 2 Tex Hoy, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Enari Tuala 1 Bradman Best.

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