{"id":360688,"date":"2026-04-02T18:59:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360688\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:59:16","slug":"knights-make-move-to-lock-down-rookie-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360688\/","title":{"rendered":"Knights make move to lock down rookie talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle Knights<\/a> are preparing for life after veteran Dane Gagai<\/a>, tabling rookie sensation Wilson De Courcey<\/a> with a two-year deal to remain a Novacastrian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Knights scouts identified the Western Sydney talent and brought him up to the coastal city for the 2024 season to compete in their SG Ball side.<\/p>\n

De Courcey progressed quickly in the ranks, moving up to reserve grade where is applying his trade and knocking the door down for an NRL<\/a> debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the 2024 NSW Cup<\/a> season, he recorded 19 tries in 18 appearances, with the Newcastle Herald reporting that the club sees him as a long-term replacement for Dane Gagai<\/a> and is offering him a fresh deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During 2025, he was elevated to the Knights’ development list to get him closer to the NRL<\/a> squad, with that being extended into this year.<\/p>\n

Gagai has played 16 seasons in the top grade and is showing dominant form at right centre for the Knights, however, he will not be offered a deal for next year.<\/p>\n

The former Australian schoolboy participated in the Knights’ pre-season trials and is currently finding himself on the extended bench as he edges closer to an NRL<\/a> debut.<\/p>\n

The Penrith junior is named in the 19 jersey this weekend against the Raiders, meaning at any time, he can be sprung onto the field to inject attacking potency into the Knights side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An injury or HIA may see him get an unexpected debut if coach Justin Holbrook<\/a> decides he is up to the task.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old stands at 184cm and 100kg, making him a problem for oppositions to handle.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights are preparing for life after veteran Dane Gagai, tabling rookie sensation Wilson De Courcey with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-360688","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\/360688","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=360688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}