Peter Parr: Why the Knights' latest signing is a game changer

More than 20 years ago, Newcastle officials noticed a skinny fullback from Bowraville playing for Hunter Sports High and, after making some inquiries, were disappointed to learn that the young Greg Inglis had already signed with Melbourne Storm.

A few years later, the Knights were blindsided when a back-rower in their Harold Matthews (under-16) team received an offer too good to refuse from the Sydney Roosters. Kid by the name of Boyd Cordner.

More recently, after Latrell Mitchell made his NRL debut for the Roosters as an 18-year-old, it emerged that he had trialled in Newcastle's junior system and somehow slipped through their fingers.

In each case, the man responsible for identifying the future superstars and securing them to contracts was O'Sullivan, who is widely regarded as the best talent scout in rugby league, and who has now joined the Knights as their recruitment manager, after previous stints with Melbourne, the Roosters, Warriors and Dolphins.

As well as Inglis, Cordner and Mitchell, other O'Sullivan discoveries read like a who's who of the modern game: Billy Slater, Israel Folau, Roger Tuivasa-Scheck, Joey Manu and Reece Walsh, to name but a handful.

Now O'Sullivan will be working in conjunction with Newcastle football director Peter Parr to shape the club's NRL roster and junior teams for years to come.

"He's got a good track record," Parr said.

"I can't see anything but a positive out of it.

"He's got a long history of putting together quality rosters, and he's unearthed a lot of good young players over the years.

"We're stoked that he's agreed to join us.

"We've been looking to fill that role for a while but we decided to wait for the right person."

The Knights have been biding their time since parting company last year with former recruitment manager Clint Zammit, who attracted scrutiny by continuing to live in North Queensland while working for Newcastle.

In contrast, O'Sullivan intends to relocate.

"He and I have discussed it," Parr said.

"He was the one who raised it. He said: 'I'll have to live in Newcastle.' I think the actual town and moving here was part of the attraction for him."

While O'Sullivan has shown a knack for finding players in remote locations, Parr said home-grown talent was an equally important priority.

"Absolutely he'll look at the local talent and our pathways system," Parr said.

"The majority of the players in our pathways are from the Hunter.

"So of course his first focus will be in that area.

"You have to understand, when he brought players into clubs like Melbourne and the Roosters, they have minimal juniors. He had to find players for those clubs, because they didn't have any in their own backyards."

In contrast, the Knights have rookie NRL fullback Fletcher Sharpe, as well as their three NSW Origin under-19 representatives - Jermaine McEwen, Connor Votano and Cody Hopwood - signed to multi-year deals.

"It's hard to keep them all, but what you want is to keep the ones who have long-term NRL careers," Parr said.

"Our intention is to keep our best young players."

Parr said O'Sullivan was a student of the game who "watches more footy than anyone I know".