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Knights move leaves Paterson dark
Brett Keeble - SMH
May 17, 2011
BACK-ROWER Cory Paterson pictured himself as a Knight for life. That is why being told to find a new club for next season has left the two-time Indigenous All Stars representative, who was contracted until the end of 2012, a shattered man.
Knights coach Rick Stone and strategic development manager Keith Onslow broke the news to Paterson at a meeting last Friday afternoon, although it seems certain they were acting on the instruction of incoming coach Wayne Bennett.
Paterson, who missed Newcastle's 25-16 loss to the Warriors at Ausgrid Stadium on Sunday due to bone bruising in his knee, told the Herald last night he was shocked at being told he would have to leave his adopted home town. ''I always wanted to play here my whole career,'' said the prop, who was born in Perth but joined the Knights as a 16-year-old in 2004\. ''Anyone who knows me knows I'm a massive supporter of the Knights Old Boys and the whole club culture here - one town, one team - I'm all for that and that's what I love about the place.
''It's my home. It's where every major significant thing in my life has happened. My son [Jax] was born here, I got married [to wife Sarah] here, I made my debut here. Everything major in my life has happened here in Newcastle.''
The 23-year-old impact forward said he had been in daily contact with his manager, Khoder Nasser, who is trying to find him a new club.
Paterson, who represented Australian Schoolboys from St Francis Xavier's College Hamilton in 2005 and has played 77 NRL games for the Knights since his debut against the Dragons in 2007, believed the decision was not personal and he held no grudge against Bennett, who will replace Stone at the end of this season.
The Herald has been told Paterson's contract is worth close to $300,000 a season and the Knights, who have signed NSW and Australian prop Kade Snowden for the next four years and are trying to recruit Australian and Queensland Origin stars Darius Boyd and Nate Myles, considered Paterson too expensive.
''I don't know him [Bennett] personally and he doesn't know me personally, so it's not a personal thing. I think it's more of a business thing, but I don't really know,'' Paterson said.
Acting Knights chief executive Troy Palmer said the decision to allow Paterson to pursue other options was related to the club's salary cap and balancing their playing roster, and other players would be given the same opportunity in coming weeks.
''At the end of the day, it's purely a business decision. We're looking at our roster for next year and beyond, and we think it's better for Cory to test the waters elsewhere and secure himself a longer-term deal,'' Palmer said.
''Yes, we'll always look for local talent and Newcastle talent … but we'll also look towards building a premiership-winning team for Newcastle Knights supporters. At the end of the day, we've got to build a successful roster that works within the salary cap and if there's an opportunity for Cory to secure a longer-term contract elsewhere, we've given him permission to pursue that.
''You want to keep everyone but you can't, and the salary cap means you're always looking ahead. Cory is contracted, and we will obviously honour that, but we're giving him an opportunity to secure a longer-term contract elsewhere.
''There will be others over the next couple of weeks as we look to build our roster, and there will be some people we bring in that we'll be applauded for, like the Snowdens, and there will be others that we'll let go and we might cop it, like the Patersons, but we've got a salary cap to work within and it's all about getting the best bang for our buck, I guess.''
Brett Keeble - SMH
May 17, 2011
BACK-ROWER Cory Paterson pictured himself as a Knight for life. That is why being told to find a new club for next season has left the two-time Indigenous All Stars representative, who was contracted until the end of 2012, a shattered man.
Knights coach Rick Stone and strategic development manager Keith Onslow broke the news to Paterson at a meeting last Friday afternoon, although it seems certain they were acting on the instruction of incoming coach Wayne Bennett.
Paterson, who missed Newcastle's 25-16 loss to the Warriors at Ausgrid Stadium on Sunday due to bone bruising in his knee, told the Herald last night he was shocked at being told he would have to leave his adopted home town. ''I always wanted to play here my whole career,'' said the prop, who was born in Perth but joined the Knights as a 16-year-old in 2004\. ''Anyone who knows me knows I'm a massive supporter of the Knights Old Boys and the whole club culture here - one town, one team - I'm all for that and that's what I love about the place.
''It's my home. It's where every major significant thing in my life has happened. My son [Jax] was born here, I got married [to wife Sarah] here, I made my debut here. Everything major in my life has happened here in Newcastle.''
The 23-year-old impact forward said he had been in daily contact with his manager, Khoder Nasser, who is trying to find him a new club.
Paterson, who represented Australian Schoolboys from St Francis Xavier's College Hamilton in 2005 and has played 77 NRL games for the Knights since his debut against the Dragons in 2007, believed the decision was not personal and he held no grudge against Bennett, who will replace Stone at the end of this season.
The Herald has been told Paterson's contract is worth close to $300,000 a season and the Knights, who have signed NSW and Australian prop Kade Snowden for the next four years and are trying to recruit Australian and Queensland Origin stars Darius Boyd and Nate Myles, considered Paterson too expensive.
''I don't know him [Bennett] personally and he doesn't know me personally, so it's not a personal thing. I think it's more of a business thing, but I don't really know,'' Paterson said.
Acting Knights chief executive Troy Palmer said the decision to allow Paterson to pursue other options was related to the club's salary cap and balancing their playing roster, and other players would be given the same opportunity in coming weeks.
''At the end of the day, it's purely a business decision. We're looking at our roster for next year and beyond, and we think it's better for Cory to test the waters elsewhere and secure himself a longer-term deal,'' Palmer said.
''Yes, we'll always look for local talent and Newcastle talent … but we'll also look towards building a premiership-winning team for Newcastle Knights supporters. At the end of the day, we've got to build a successful roster that works within the salary cap and if there's an opportunity for Cory to secure a longer-term contract elsewhere, we've given him permission to pursue that.
''You want to keep everyone but you can't, and the salary cap means you're always looking ahead. Cory is contracted, and we will obviously honour that, but we're giving him an opportunity to secure a longer-term contract elsewhere.
''There will be others over the next couple of weeks as we look to build our roster, and there will be some people we bring in that we'll be applauded for, like the Snowdens, and there will be others that we'll let go and we might cop it, like the Patersons, but we've got a salary cap to work within and it's all about getting the best bang for our buck, I guess.''
