Knights CEO Philip Gardner has ruled out trying to fast-track Dylan Brown’s move to Newcastle amid suggestions it would be in everyone’s best interests for Parramatta to “move on” their enigmatic playmaker.
Brown has attracted scrutiny since signing a 10-year deal with Newcastle that starts next year, especially after underwhelming performances in losses to Wests Tigers and Canterbury.
After being booed by Parramatta fans before the 32-6 thrashing from the Tigers, and then failing to fire against Canterbury, Eels legend Nathan Hindmarsh said the club might be wise to offload their Kiwi international at the first opportunity.
“Is it better to just move him on?” Hindmarsh said on The Bye Round podcast this week.
“I’m getting to that point now where it makes sense. It does make sense. He’s not offering much at the Eels.
“I’ve never been in that position before. I’ve never felt that pressure before … he’s got to organise the whole s— show that it is at the moment. I want to see more from him.”
Dylan Brown has been under intense scrutiny since announcing he will join Newcastle next season.Credit: Getty Images
Former Warriors utility Dylan Walker, who signed with the Eels this week, shapes as a ready-made replacement. But regardless of whether Parra would consider granting Brown an early release, Gardner said the Knights can’t accommodate him in 2024.
“Quite clearly, the club doesn’t have the salary cap space to facilitate a transfer for Dylan Brown this year,” Gardner told this masthead.
“That’s a statement of fact. We just don’t have the space.”
As such, he said there had been no need to discuss the issue with Parramatta officials, adding that the Knights have confidence in this season’s roster.
Jackson Hastings hasn’t played in the NRL since last July.Credit: Getty
Gardner did not want to speculate on players that the Knights could move on to free up funds, saying: “All our players are contracted to the club.”
Maybe so, but contracted players don’t always see out their tenures with the Knights, as Daniel Saifiti and David Klemmer could testify.
Veteran Newcastle halfback Jackson Hastings could emerge as a bargaining chip.
The 29-year-old is off contract at the end of this season, knowing that the Knights are not intending to re-sign him.
‘The club doesn’t have the salary cap space to facilitate a transfer for Dylan Brown this year.’
Knights boss Philip Gardner
On a deal reportedly near $800,000 per season, Hastings hasn’t played in the NRL since July 20 last year. He made his first appearance of 2025 in the NSW Cup last week after training as a utility player during the pre-season.
While Hastings appears stuck behind Jack Cogger, Fletcher Sharpe and Tyson Gamble in the pecking order, Knights coach Adam O’Brien said earlier this month: “He can play nine, he can play 13.
“We’re just giving him reps everywhere. It gives him his best chance to play in the NRL team.”
A former Man of Steel in England, Hastings is expected to attract interest from Super League clubs, and the Knights would not stand in his way if he requested a release.
The same goes for English import Will Pryce, who partnered Hastings in the NSW Cup halves last weekend.
Pryce is reportedly earning $400,000 a year and has played just five NRL games since arriving in Newcastle at the start of last season.
Brown, meanwhile, should be starting to realise by now that his unprecedented $14 million contract comes with strings attached – namely the negative feedback.
Heckled by the same fans who have idolised him for seven years, he has also been harshly critiqued for his lacklustre form in Parramatta’s 0-3 start to the season.
Young Knights half Fletcher Sharpe.Credit: Getty Images
“I feel watching him that he’s scared to fail and scared to make a mistake … Dylan Brown has gone into his shell, and he’s shitting himself about making a mistake,” former Canterbury and St George Illawarra forward James Graham said on The Bye Round podcast.
The scrutiny Brown has attracted evokes memories of the treatment young halfback Ash Taylor copped when he signed a three-year deal worth $1 million a season with Gold Coast in 2017.
Taylor struggled to live up to the expectations and his NRL career was over at the age of 27.
Former Titans coach Garth Brennan said Taylor “struggled with the pressure and expectations” that came with being one of the NRL’s top earners.
“When you’re getting that sort of price tag, you’ve got to stay on the park, and you’ve got to deliver,” Brennan said. “When Dylan gets to Newcastle, that’ll be the expectation on him. The weight of the world will be on his shoulders.”
While Brennan said he had no say in Taylor’s remuneration, he paid the ultimate price when the halfback was unable to justify the club’s massive investment.
“If your million-dollar player doesn’t deliver, then the coach is the one who gets sacked, simple as that,” Brennan said.
“If you’re not winning games, it falls on the coach. It’s not got to fall on the guy earning $13-14 million. They can’t get rid of him. He’s earning too much to pay out.”
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