Benji Marshall is still on the books for the Dragons but according to reports the joint venture is looking to make a move for Newcastle half Trent Hodkinson to fill the Luke Keary-sized hole in their 2017 plans.
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While the former Origin half is only in the first season of a three-year deal, Paul Kent reckons it’s a solid move for Hodkinson.
“I think Hodkinson in hindsight – and he might privately admit this to himself – he committed career suicide by going to the Knights,” Kent said on Triple M Sunday NRL.
“He went from a finals-contending team and being a State of Origin halfback and has just disappeared off the radar.
“It would be devastating for the Knights to lose him – they need more players like him – but for him I can understand wanting to get out and back into a side that’s going to be in contention.
“There’s nothing more dispiriting than being at a club that has basically conceded it won’t make the finals. I remember talking to Jarrod Mullen earlier in the year and he found it really dispiriting with the club constantly talking about being in a rebuilding phase; he’s at the peak of his career and at a club that’s stuck in a rebuilding phase.
“I really felt for him. Players want to win premierships they don’t want to constantly be told “you know what, guys, suck it up this year we’re no good, but next year we’ll be better and the year after a bit better and in three years’ time we might make the finals.’
Talented young half Brock Lamb is a NRL playmaker in waiting but the Knights other consideration for letting Hodkinson go is the salary cap.
“What Nathan Brown has found out is that he’s come into a club and first thing he’s done is said to the recruitment team, ‘bring in your books and tell me who is on contract, for how long, and how much we’re paying them,’” Kent said.
“I reckon he would have had nightmares over it because their salary cap is out of whack. They’ve got players on far more than they should be on.
That’s why they’ve been losing so many good kids because they don’t have the money to keep the good ones.”
