Toohey's News: Signs point to Adam O'Brien staying on as Newcastle Knights head coach

Apparently, O'Brien's coaching staff also wants their boss to stick around.

Reinforcing that, we're hearing attack coach Blake Green was looking at his options elsewhere a month ago when the knives were being sharpened for O'Brien.

That explains why he's been widely linked to a possible move to Manly to replace Dragons-bound Shane Flanagan despite still having a year to run on his Knights contract.

However, the Manly rumour has since died a sudden death, coinciding with the Knights' three-game winning streak and O'Brien's job seemingly becoming a whole lot more secure.

There's another pointer to O'Brien's rising security levels. The club has finally kicked off negotiations to re-sign his out-of-contract assistant coach Rory Kostjasyn.

Kostjasyn's future had been in limbo because club officials were of the view that if O'Brien was sacked and a new coach was to come in, he should be given an opportunity to immediately bring his own assistant with him.

The fact Kostjasyn now appears likely to be re-signed suggests the current coach should be safe for 2024 at least.

Don't expect a quick return from a quad injury for prop Daniel Saifiti, who could potentially miss the next three before making a late-season return.

The silver lining for the Knights will be if the team is still in finals' contention when he gets back. Saifiti has had an average season but nagging shoulder and sternum injuries that he's carried into games haven't helped. The time off will benefit his body.

We're hearing the Knights will hardly be out of pocket, if at all, following the late-season signing of utility Fa'amanu Brown, who rounds out the club's top 30 this year.

The Bulldogs needed his roster spot to bring in Liam Knight from Souths so they have paid Brown to head north for the rest of this season.

We keep hearing the Knights' salary cap is in such a mess, it could cost the club the signature of Bradman Best down the track.

Consider this: How is it possible for the Knights to be in cap strife with just three players earning more than $700,000 next year [four if you want to count Kalyn Ponga's $1.4 million salary as two] when the likes of South Sydney have at least eight players earning more than $750,000?

And while on the subject, what has happened to the $500,000 the Knights offered departing winger Dom Young to try to stop him from signing with the Roosters?

Teenage forward Myles Martin is regarded as a priority long-term signing by the Knights but that may not stop him testing his worth on the market come November 1.

The NSW Under 19s lock is signed for next season but whether he stays beyond that could hinge on how much interest there is elsewhere. He is baulking at signing a longer-term deal.

A factor in Newcastle's favour is his dislike for living in Sydney. The former Bathurst boy had a stint at Parramatta before joining the Knights and the talk at the time was he couldn't get out of Sydney quick enough.

Luckless Knights centre Krystian Mapapalangi's 2023 season is officially over with news he had shoulder surgery for a second time.

Mapapalangi had a shoulder reconstruction in the pre-season and played just his first game back in NSW Cup three weeks ago.

Unfortunately for the 20-year-old, the screw that was surgically holding his shoulder in place snapped and needed another op to fix it.

Meanwhile, young front-row prospect Paul Bryan won't play at all this season after tearing his ACL in January. Bryan, promoted to the top 30 next season, is back in training but the club won't be risking him this year.

Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland produced his best performance for the club in Newcastle's upset win over Melbourne last weekend, narrowly edging out back-rower Tyson Frizell for man-of-the-match honours in Baz's Best player-of-the-year competition.

Rd 21 - Knights v Storm: 3 Crossland 2 Frizell 1 Lachlan Fitzgibbon

Standings: 17 Kalyn Ponga 15 Tyson Frizell 13 Greg Marzhew 11 Dane Gagai, 10 Lachie Miller 7 Phoenix Crossland 5 Jackson Hastings 4 Bradman Best 3 Leo Thompson, Kurt Mann, Lachlan Fitzgibbon 2 Tyson Gamble, Daniel Saifiti, Dylan Lucas, Adam Elliott 1 Dom Young, Jacob Saifiti.

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