Off-contract England international linked with early NRL transfer

Englishman Kai Pearce-Paul has been linked with an early exit from NRL club Newcastle Knights.

The back-rower is in the final year of his contract with the Knights and has made it clear that he intends to test the open market before deciding his next move. As such, he was expected to leave Newcastle at the end of the NRL season, with several clubs reported to be interested in Pearce-Paul’s services.

However, according to Zero Tackle, there is a possibility he could leave early with Newcastle looking to free up salary cap space and potentially sign Pearce-Paul’s England teammate Dom Young from Sydney Roosters.

Wests Tigers are the club linked in the report, although Canberra Raiders are another side that have been rumoured to be keen on Pearce-Paul’s signature. Wests have shown signs of improvement under Benji Marshall, but lost 64-0 to Melbourne Storm last weekend.

The signing of Pearce-Paul would certainly help to shore things up in that regard and they have until June 30 to make it happen.

Kai Pearce-Paul NRL switch ‘could lead to Dom Young move’

Should the former Wigan Warriors man move to the Western Suburbs of Sydney then, that could just open the door for the Knights to re-sign Young.

The winger has slipped down the pecking order at the Roosters over the last month and there have been reports that he could be set to move on, despite having two and a half more years left to run on his deal.

Pearce-Paul has been with the Knights since the start of the 2024 season, making the switch after three full seasons in the Warriors first-team, where he made 61 appearances and scored seven tries.

He has played 29 times for Newcastle and that includes seven outings this season, with the forward being a regular member of Adam O’Brien’s pack.