Newcastle Knights keen to re-sign centre Bradman Best before rival clubs pounce

Responding to recent speculation that the Knights were willing to release Best and prop Daniel Saifiti to free up salary-cap space, Parr said that as far as he was concerned, neither of them would be going anywhere any time soon.

Saifiti is contracted to Newcastle until the end of 2026, while Best has another season to run on his deal but can start negotiating with rival clubs as of November 1.

"There's never been a discussion had about releasing Daniel or Bradman," Parr told the Newcastle Herald.

"I understand that with recruitment and retention, there are always rumours floating around in the world of rugby league. But we have no desire to release either player. It's our intention that they both end up as long-term players for the Knights.

"I've reiterated that to both the players, and their agents, and I've never had a discussion about either player with another club."

Parr said it was frustrating that coach Adam O'Brien had publicly rebuffed the rumours last week, only for the issue to re-surface when Parr and Canterbury general manager Phil Gould were spotted in deep conversation in a New Lambton coffee shop last Thursday.

The Bulldogs had reportedly been interested in signing Saifiti.

"I didn't discuss any players in my conversation with Gus [Gould]," Parr said.

"The conversation we had centred a lot around pathways.

"We both think the futures of our clubs is through the pathways system.

"Gus had some success in that area at Penrith and is now trying to implement that at the Bulldogs.

"I've got some knowledge of pathways from my time at the Cowboys, so we swapped some ideas around young players, structures and coaching philosophies.

"We both share the view that to get our clubs back up near the top of the table, it's essential to have a well-thought-out pathways program and to be investing in our local talent."

When it was put to Parr that Gould has travelled a long way to discuss junior development, he replied: "I'm not going to disclose everything we talked about, because it was a private conversation and that wouldn't be fair on him. But I can assure you that we didn't discuss any of our players going to the Bulldogs, or any player swaps, or anything like that."

Best, still only 21, is enjoying the best season of an injury-disrupted career and is yet to miss a game in 2023.

If he was to wait until November 1 to test his worth on the open market, he would no doubt attract plenty of interest - a scenario Parr is eager to avoid.

"That would be our preferred option ... we'll let Bradman keep playing his footy for the moment, and see what eventuates down the track," Parr said.

"But the club has put a lot of time, effort and resources into Bradman, so we'll be doing everything possible to ensure he remains in a Knights jersey."

With a host of players off contract at the end of this season - headed by Tyson Frizell, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Kurt Mann, Hymel Hunt, Enari Tuala, Brodie Jones, Jack Johns and Adam Clune - Parr admitted Newcastle face "a couple of challenges going forward" with regards to their salary-cap situation.

"But as every day goes by, we get a clearer understanding of that," he said.

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