KNIGHTS chief executive Steve Burraston believed a new partnership with the Central Coast would formally extend their boundaries to Sydney's northern outskirts and allow the NRL club to reclaim their own territory.
The Knights have joined forces with the Country Rugby League to field a Central Coast-based team in the second-tier NSW Cup next year.
It marks the Knights' return to the NSWRL's elite competition, formerly known as reserve grade, after a one-year absence.
The team will be known as the Central Coast Crusaders and will be boosted each week by Knights players not selected for Newcastle's National Rugby League and National Youth Competition (under 20s) teams.
The emergence of the Crusaders will dilute but not end the player placement program introduced this year, in which surplus Knights players were drafted to Newcastle Rugby League teams.
Burraston was excited about establishing a presence on the Central Coast but said the Knights remained committed to playing home games at EnergyAustralia Stadium and maintaining a strong relationship with the Newcastle Rugby League.
It is understood the partnership will be for five years, with an option for another three.
"It's all still very much in the early stages. We still have to finalise the details and the contracts and exactly how we're going to make this thing work," Burraston said.
"But it's very exciting for the Newcastle Knights, because it opens up a whole new market to us and allows us to help the game of rugby league and develop that at a grassroots level, and also help develop another community, so I see this as very positive for our organisation.
"We believe the Central Coast is our territory and other people have dropped in and out and haven't particularly done the right thing.
"It's one way we felt we could reconnect with the Central Coast.
"We don't want to come in and take over the Central Coast, but we want to have an identity.
"We see it as our territory and hopefully the people of the Central Coast will have an affinity with the Knights once we're there and operating again. It extends beyond just having a team in the NSW Cup, but helping develop their coaches, trainers, administrators and juniors as well."
Asked if the Central Coast partnership meant the Knights would consider moving some home games from EAS to Gosford's Bluetongue Stadium, Burraston said: "It's not in our plans at this stage. Our desire is always to play out of EAS.
"But other NRL teams choose to play us at Bluetongue Stadium so Central Coast people will get the opportunity to watch the Knights at Gosford as well."
The Herald has been told former Knights lower-grade coach Rip Taylor, who has compiled a long and successful career coaching in the Country Rugby League and the NSW Cup and its predecessors, will be appointed within the next week to coach the Crusaders.
Wearing a blue and gold strip, they will play most of their home games on the Central Coast, most likely at Morry Breen Oval at Kanwal, but could move some to EAS as a third match supporting the Knights' NRL and NYC teams.
Only a few weeks ago, Knights and Newcastle Rugby League officials were seemingly well down the track towards finalising details of the player placement program for 2010.
Several Knights and Newcastle Rugby League sources expressed surprise when contacted after the club's board of directors, which includes Newcastle Rugby League representatives Trevor Crow and Vince Murphy, voted at 11.30am yesterday in favour of the Crusaders concept.
Melbourne Storm had fielded a Central Coast-based feeder team in the NSW Cup for the past two seasons, but they will operate their second-tier side out of Melbourne next year.
Once that was confirmed about six weeks ago, it is understood the NSWRL and CRL made overtures to the Knights about helping to fill the void.
The Herald understands the NSWRL, trying to raise the profile of the flagging NSW Cup, were determined to have the Knights back in that competition while maintaining a presence on the Central Coast.
Burraston and CRL chief executive Terry Quinn said the NSWRL was funding the joint venture, and Burraston said the project would be "cost neutral" to the Knights pending confirmation of "very modest sponsorship".
Playing as the Central Newcastle Knights in a joint venture with Central Charlestown, the Knights last played in the NSW Cup in 2008 but withdrew at the end of the year due to costs of about $300,000.
"The NSW Rugby League have come up with some funding to make sure it works well for the Knights and there's no additional cost. There's been a lot of emphasis placed on the NSW Cup for 2010 to raise its profile," Quinn said.
"This gives the Knights a bigger pool to pull from, and obviously the pathway for the kids on the Coast now will come back through the Knights.
"They can probably have first call on those kids but, as always, not all kids go to their home senior club, but it will offer them a bit more incentive to go to the Knights."
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