{"id":243498,"date":"2025-10-27T05:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T05:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243498\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T05:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T05:49:08","slug":"sandon-smith-finally-confirms-new-club-after-roosters-release-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243498\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandon Smith finally confirms new club after Roosters release – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle Knights<\/a> have finally confirmed the signing of Sandon Smith<\/a> from the start of the 2026 NRL<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

Smith was contracted to the Roosters, but released after he slipped behind Hugo Savala<\/a> in the pecking order during 2025, while speculation also continues to mount that the tri-colours will sign Daly Cherry-Evans<\/a> for 2026.<\/p>\n

Smith’s move to the Knights is on a four-year deal which will see him remain in the Hunter until at least the end of 2029.<\/p>\n

While it’s unclear what role he will play, it’s likely he will form a halves combination with the also arriving Dylan Brown<\/a>, who has signed a decade long deal after leaving the Parramatta Eels<\/a> at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted Sandon will be joining us on a four-year deal,” Knights head of recruitment Peter O’Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Central Coast junior who represented the Knights in our pathways, Sandon’s signing is great for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cSandon has a brilliant game sense, with the ability to break a game open and create opportunities for those around him, along with being one of the best goal kickers in the NRL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Sandon is a dynamic half, who can also play hooker. His combination with Dylan Brown<\/a>, Fletcher Sharpe<\/a> and Kalyn Ponga<\/a> gives us great coverage and depth in all our spine options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe Sandon will help create plenty of attacking opportunities and exciting combinations for the Knights.”<\/p>\n

Under new coach Justin Holbrook<\/a>, the Knights will be aiming to turn around a dismal 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

The Knights, as of Smith’s signing, have 31 players on their books for 2025, provided reports are correct and Kyle McCarthy<\/a> has taken up an option to remain at the club.<\/p>\n

Taj Annan<\/a> has been linked with a departure, and it’s likely Smith’s signing to the Knights, which has been rumoured for two months, was delayed by the Knights having too many players on their books for 2026.<\/p>\n

Zero Tackle have reached out to the club for clarification over which player will not be part of their 2026 roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights have finally confirmed the signing of Sandon Smith from the start of the 2026 NRL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-243498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}