![\"NRL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/089A5352_e-scaled.jpg.webp.webp\"\/)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 16: Dylan Brown making a break past Tigers defenders during the round two NRL match between Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium, on March 16, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Joshua Davis\/Zero Digital Sports)<\/p>\n
According to those close to the situation, the option of Smith playing in the halves was communicated upon his arrival, with the belief that he could feature either in the halves or at hooker, depending on the direction the Knights wanted to go.<\/p>\n
At training, the Knights have reportedly been running their attack with Dylan Brown<\/a> on the left. At the same time, Phoenix Crossland<\/a> has been stationed at dummy-half, further underlining the club’s willingness to explore a new spine balance ahead of the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n “They’ve been training [with this combination] a lot recently,” sources revealed.<\/p>\n There has also been movement behind the backline, with Fletcher Sharpe<\/a> tipped to start the season on the left wing, though he is expected to fill in at five-eighth in a pinch, and has also been training at fullback at times.<\/p>\n That adjustment is understood to be linked to Kalyn Ponga<\/a> not yet being medically cleared for full-contact training, prompting the Knights to cover contingencies early in the pre-season.<\/p>\n If it holds, the Knights’ left edge could prove one of the most dangerous in the competition, with Sharpe, Bradman Best<\/a>, Dylan Lucas<\/a> and Dylan Brown<\/a> all set to feature in what is set to be an absolutely lethal combination.<\/p>\n While trials will ultimately determine the final make-up, the signs suggest this is more than just a short-term experiment, and one that the Knights are seriously considering as they build toward round one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights’ pre-season reshuffle is beginning to take clearer shape, with training vision and club intel hinting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-217536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ponga-Kalyn-GettyImages-1247637666.jpeg.webp.webp\"\/)
<\/p>\n