HE hasn't played in the NRL for 12 months and is likely to be released at the season of the season, but the Newcastle Knights have no doubt that Adam Clune can get the job done in the absence of primary playmaker Jackson Hastings.
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Hastings limped off during Sunday's 42-6 victory against Canterbury after a controversial hip-drop tackle by Canterbury forward Jacob Preston and spent the second half of the game watching from the sideline, with his injured right ankle encased in a protective boot.
Preston was charged on Monday with grade-three dangerous contact and will miss two games if he pleads guilty.
Hastings suffered a fractured fibula to the same ankle when playing for Wests Tigers last year, in a similar hip-drop tackle that resulted in Brisbane lock Pat Carrigan being suspended for four games.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien admitted after Sunday's game it was "not looking good" for Hastings.
Scans on Monday confirmed a low-grade syndesmosis injury.
The club said on its website he would be "assessed on a day-to-day basis" and could potentially play on Sunday, when the Knights host South Sydney in a blockbuster sell-out at McDonald Jones Stadium.
But the more likely outcome would appear to be a recall for Clune, who played 18 NRL games for Newcastle last season.
O'Brien said Hastings had "done a hell of a job for us" this season but was confident Clune would do likewise.
"I've got plenty of belief in Adam," O'Brien said.
"I think he's got a solid kicking game. He'll direct the team around.
"You don't wish for these things, but that's why you're a club.
"You need to rely on your depth."
O'Brien said the Knights would "come up with a plan" to replace Hastings and was heartened by Clune's form in Newcastle's 42-28 reserve-grade win against Canterbury on Sunday.
"He's back from injury and played really well in NSW Cup," O'Brien said.
"You're never going to replace like for like ... but you've just got to find a way to get on with it. We've done that in the past, so we'll do it again."
Newcastle five-eighth Tyson Gamble said "losing a halfback is never ideal" but Clune was more than capable of filling the breach.
"It'll be something we look at, but Adam Clune has been playing absolutely unbelievable footy in our NSW Cup team, and he returned from injury this week," Gamble said.
"If he comes up and plays with us, he just slots straight into that role and I just continue doing what I can do for the team.
"But if Adsy [O'Brien] wants me to take a bit more control, then I'll do it."
Gamble said that "as a collective, we've been playing well enough to win games", regardless of what individuals were missing.
"Jacko's a big loss, but it just puts more emphasis on myself and Kalyn and Phoenix [Crossland], who've been playing consistent footy, to step it up," he said.
Clune played 25 top-grade games for the Dragons before joining Newcastle at the start of last season.
The 28-year-old scored two tries in his 18 games for the Knights last year and produced 12 try assists and 13 forced line dropouts.
Off contract at the end of this season, Clune is reportedly eyeing a move to the Super League after Newcastle's recent decision to sign Penrith's Jack Cogger as a back-up half.
Meanwhile, O'Brien was reluctant to criticise Preston's tackle. "I don't want to be that guy,' O'Brien said.
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