![Lachlan Miller. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Lachlan Miller. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/d6cedcc9-3051-4bf1-ae92-41e650003276.jpg/r0_0_5060_3373_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Dumped Newcastle custodian Lachlan Miller will take up a multi-year deal in Super League after being released from the last two years of his Knights contract.
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Miller, a former Australian rugby sevens player the Knights signed a month ahead of this season to be their full-time fullback, was on Wednesday formally granted a release from the remainder of his NRL deal.
The 29-year-old was contracted at the Knights until the end of 2025 but will now depart at season's end.
After making the pre-season switch from Cronulla, where he played seven NRL games last year, Miller made his club debut for the Knights in the 2023 season opener.
The Coffs Harbour product hit the ground running and produced some cracking form early on before some testing times mid-season.
After a poor game against his former club in round 12, and coinciding with Kalyn Ponga's return to fullback from five-eighth, Miller was dropped the interchange bench for the following game before being dropped from the side altogether.
He has since played eight games in NSW Cup, all of them at five-eighth, with the Knights trying to improve his utility value.
However, having been signed to play fullback in the top grade, Super League clubs recently pounced on Miller and he has since signed a three-year deal with Leeds Rhinos.
"I really enjoyed my footy at the start of this season and I want to bring that to the Rhinos," Miller said in a Leeds' press release.
"It is a big change for my family; we have a newborn and two-year-old so it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our young family that we are ready to embrace and make the most of."
The Knights recently upgraded NSW Cup fullback David Armstrong to their top-30 NRL roster for 2024, and will have other talented emerging players who could potentially serve as back-up to Ponga in the future, including incoming English recruit Will Pryce and young gun Fletcher Sharpe.
Leeds coach Rohan Smith predicted Miller would light up the English competition.
"He is a quick, broken-field runner who is gaining in experience all the time having come across to league from rugby union later in his career," Smith said.
"I think he will fit in well with our squad for next season and the plans we have for our style of play moving forward."