If Knights flop in 2024, last years of O’Brien deal could be void

One or maybe even two of Adam O’Brien’s big Newcastle Knights extensions could actually be run through with red ink should his team fail to finish twelfth or higher in the nearly-ended 2024 NRL season.

O’Brien’s Knights team has slumped to 11th in 2024 with three weeks to go and a wide four-point gap to the St George Illawarra Dragons in the last of the eight finals positions.

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Reports from inside the Hunter club are suggesting O’Brien’s contract has two key clauses that could quickly see him stripped of the 2026 and 2027 certainty. The first is that 2027’s extension would be scrapped immediately if the Knights ran 13th or lower. Then, depending on this year and next, O’Brien may revert to a 12-month deal instead.

That kind of change would see the 46-year-old helmsman then fighting for his Knights job.

At the time of writing, there’s been no real official confirmation from the club side, of course, with Newcastle chief executive Philip  Gardner the only one of the Knights’ top brass to speak to any media at all during the week.

“The contracts of players and staff at the Newcastle Knights will remain confidential, just like your contract should remain confidential,” Gardner told the Sydney Morning Herald after the news emerged.

If the clauses are true, all eyes in Newcastle will turn to the final three games of the 2024 Knights campaign. The team will head to Sydney on Saturday to play the struggling South Sydney Rabbitohs before wrapping up the year with two Sunday home games. In those, they’ll face the Titans (currently 13th) and the Dolphins (ninth).

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Mathematically, the Knights could still play finals—especially if they win all three games—but even a spot between ninth and twelfth may be enough to save O’Brien’s final contract years at this stage.