CLUB chairman Brian McGuigan and the NRL insist the Knights are staying in Newcastle.
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News Limited reported on Monday that the NRL had discussed transferring the Knights’ NRL licence to Ipswich to create a fourth Queensland club to appease broadcasters.
However, any suggestion of relocating the Knights was refuted on Monday by the governing body, which has been trying to sell the club since September.
“There are no plans to move the Knights,” an NRL spokesman said.
McGuigan, who was holidaying in Fiji when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Monday, had not read the story but was quick to allay the concerns of Newcastle rugby league fans.
“I’ve found the NRL always to be straight with us and straight with the people of Newcastle,” McGuigan said.
“I think they tell us the truth at all turns. I’ve heard some other club chairmen say other similar things, but not the NRL. They have been very, very fair with us.
“If they had any inkling on such a thing they would have told us first.”
The NRL spokesman said a new negotiating phase over the club’s sale had begun after the initial tender process, which closed in November, failed to unearth a suitable buyer despite attracting 17 expressions of interest.
“The NRL is still keen to get a local Newcastle bid for the club,” he said. “Negotiations are delicate. There are a couple of different interested parties and we hope to be in a position soon to outline our progress.”
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg met with organisers behind the "Our Knights, One Chance" community ownership bid in Newcastle last Thursday.
“We are still in contact with them and other interested parties,” the NRL spokesman said.
Launched in December, the “Our Knights, One Chance” model, based on NFL franchise the Green Bay Packers, hinges on selling 40,000 shares at $500 apiece.
McGuigan believed the NRL, which has owned the club since Nathan Tinkler’s demise in 2014, was doing all it could to keep the Knights connected to Newcastle.
“Newcastle basically is the home of rugby league, but that’s why we are and have been supportive of the local initiative, because we were unsuccessful in getting the right people together for the sale of the club,” he said.
“But, look, I know the key people in the NRL and you can rest assured they will be trying their hardest to ensure that the club remains in Newcastle.
“The Knights have got to stay in Newcastle, for God’s sake, it’s just got to stay there and that’s why we are all working hard to make sure we do, to perform better and repay the loyalty of our unbelievable fans.”
Ipswich mayor Paul Pisale poured fuel on the fire on Monday, saying on radio “an Ipswich-based NRL team would be a financial winner” and “it would be absolutely fantastic to have the Knights up here.”
On the sale of the club, McGuigan said: “We are still going with it, pursuing a few alternatives, but the thing was closed down based on the offers we had before.
“The NRL, I know, could have accepted a number of the offers that came up, but the NRL want to make sure that this time around that we’re right for the future, so we’ve got the right owner in place so the Knights are hard, fast and successful.”