{"id":446821,"date":"2026-01-30T06:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446821\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T06:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:49:10","slug":"knights-star-cleared-by-us-for-vegas-debut-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446821\/","title":{"rendered":"Knights star cleared by US for Vegas debut &#8211; NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/newcastle-knights\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newcastle Knights<\/a> can breathe a sigh of relief ahead of their Round 1 matchup against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/north-queensland-cowboys\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Daily Telegraph reports that marquee signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/dylan-brown\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dylan Brown<\/a> has been cleared to make his club debut in Las Vegas after his US visa application was successfully approved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Knights had been anxiously awaiting confirmation on Brown&#8217;s availability for the season-opening clash against the Cowboys, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/rugby-league\/international-teams\/new-zealand\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Zealand<\/a> international required to meet with the US consulate earlier this week to finalise his travel clearance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Brown, who pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual touching without consent in 2023 and was handed an 18-month community corrections order, has now been given approval to enter the United States alongside the rest of Newcastle&#8217;s travelling squad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">While his off-field situation had raised concerns over his availability, the visa outcome ensures the Knights&#8217; biggest off-season recruit will be available for Round 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Knights coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/coaches\/justin-holbrook\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Holbrook<\/a> confirmed Brown is a lock to start in the halves for the Vegas fixture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/dylan-brown\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dylan Brown<\/a> will definitely be in the halves,\u201d Holbrook told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIt just comes down to Sandon (Smith) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/fletcher-sharpe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fletcher Sharpe<\/a>, those guys will battle it out for the other spot and we&#8217;ll work it out after the trials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-219880\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"Parramatta Eels Training\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AB3I9717_e-scaled.jpg.webp.webp\"\/>Dylan Brown. (Photo by Joshua Davis\/Zero Digital Sports)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Brown will be rested for Newcastle&#8217;s first pre-season hit-out against the Dragons on February 7, allowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/sandon-smith\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sandon Smith<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/fletcher-sharpe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fletcher Sharpe<\/a> extended time in the halves to press their claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI&#8217;ll play Sandon and Sharpie in the halves and give them plenty of game time,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cSharpie will play a bit of fullback as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The former Eels playmaker is expected to return for the Knights&#8217; final trial against the Bulldogs on February 14, where he will likely line up alongside Newcastle&#8217;s preferred Round 1 halves partner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights can breathe a sigh of relief ahead of their Round 1 matchup against the North&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-446821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446821","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=446821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}