Max McKinney

Lake Macquarie is hosting four Australia Championships this week.

If there’s one thing Wests can take into their clash with leaders Maitland today it is the confidence of knowing they’ve already beaten the Pickers this season. In fact, the Rosellas remain the only side to defeat the two-time defending premiers in 2024. But that’s where the challenge now appears to lie. Since their 36-30 win in round three, which remains the only match Wests have played at Harker Oval this year, Maitland have built towards the type of form that resulted in them knocking-off…

Newcastle will unleash English playmaker Will Pryce as coach Adam O’Brien looks to spark his side’s attack against a struggling Parramatta outfit on Saturday. Pryce, who has spent the first half of the season in reserve grade, will start at five-eighth in the 5.30pm match at McDonald Jones Stadium. The 21-year-old will play alongside halfback Jackson Hastings, the duo becoming Newcastle’s fourth halves pairing this season. Jack Cogger, who had worn the No.6 jersey for the past four games, has…

Wests coach Rick Stone expects former NRL player Nathan Ross to make his first start in the coming rounds but “probably not this week”. Ross, who made 60 appearances for the Knights between 2015-18, has been recovering from a pre-season hamstring injury that required surgery. He is yet to feature for the Rosellas, who he linked with late last year. “He is working towards it. He is back at training,” Stone said. “Probably not this week, hopefully next week. “He was back to full training this…

IT was a performance that earned them a rousing “New-cas-tle” chant after they were beaten in golden-point extra time. Newcastle’s 16-15 loss to Penrith at McDonald Jones Stadium last year was the closest they’d come to beating the Panthers since a 14-14 draw at Campbelltown during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. It was also the closest they’d come to defeating Penrith at home since their last victory in 2015. Indeed, the Knights have beaten the Panthers just once in their past 13 games - at…

The Newcastle Knights look set to welcome back big-name Bradman Best and Daniel Saifiti for Sunday’s clash with the Penrith Panthers. Best and Saifiti have been both named in Newcastle’s 1-17 for the 4pm match at McDonald Jones Stadium. Best was listed in his usual No.4 jersey and appears set to return from the hamstring injury he picked up against the Titans in round 10. He has missed Newcastle’s past two games. Saifiti was included on the interchange bench. He missed Sunday’s 36-28 loss to…

TWO-time Newcastle Rugby League premiership winner Luke Higgins is poised for a return to Souths. The forward, who recently concluded a maiden campaign in France’s Elite 2 competition, has agreed to terms with the Lions for at least the rest of this season. Higgins won titles with Souths in 2016 and 2018, and will return to Townson Oval after playing the past three NEWRL seasons at Macquarie. He finished up at the Scorpions last season ahead of his European sojourn. Along with fellow Souths ba…

OFF-CONTRACT Newcastle back Krystian Mapapalangi will play his first NRL game in close to two years when the Knights host Canterbury-Bankstown on Friday. Mapapalangi was on Tuesday named to play centre in the 8pm match at McDonald Jones Stadium, replacing injured star Bradman Best. It will be Mapapalangi’s first match in the top grade since making the second of his two consecutive career appearances at the back end of the 2022 campaign. The young rookie looked a promising back-line option ahe…

The Newcastle Knights are continuing to distance themselves from a third-party deal the NRL is investigating involving marquee player and team captain Kalyn Ponga. The governing body is looking into a financial agreement between Ponga and a business it approved in 2020 when reviewing all clubs’ third-party deals. Ponga’s father and manager, Andre, is understood to have raised issues with the agreement and met with the NRL in recent weeks. Multiple media reports have suggested Ponga is, or was,…

The NRL is investigating a third-party deal involving Newcastle Knights captain Kalyn Ponga. It’s understood the financial agreement, which is between Ponga and a party separate to the club, dates back years and was reportedly approved by the NRL in 2020. Ponga’s father and manager, Andre, is understood to have raised issues with the deal and met with the NRL in recent weeks. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Monday night that Ponga was potentially out of pocket a six-figure sum. But the N…