Bradman Best has had a remarkable end to the season over the past few months, which has seen him earn his NSW Blues debut and guide the Knights towards the finals.
Set to enter the open market on November 1 due to his contract expiring at the end of next season, Best is reportedly open to contract negotiations. Despite being linked to several clubs, including the Wests Tigers, the Newcastle junior is open to begin talks with the club in the hope of securing a long-term deal, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I'm officially done with my old manager coming up this week,” Best told the publication.
“I can't talk to anyone at the moment but I'm keen to stay here.
“I've been a junior and come through here my whole life. What we're doing this year is really special. We've got some big players, this club's going somewhere and I obviously want to win a comp here.
“When November 1 comes, hopefully the club's keen to re-sign me, and hopefully, I can get that done as soon as possible.”
Best's superb form will see him receive a major increase in salary. Currently on $500,000 a season, it is likely he could earn towards the $700,000 mark, which would make him one of the game's top earners in the centre position.
While he wants to remain at the club for which he has appeared in 66 games and scored 28 tries, the 22-year-old had to wait three months to open talks with the club. This is due to the enforcement of a 90-day period players must wait after employing a new player agent - having switched from Clinton Schifcofske as his agent to Warrick Wright's Black Money Enterprises management team.
While the Newcastle Knights wait an extra week to begin talks with Best, the club have been the most in-form team in the competition. This was seen last week against the South Sydney Rabbitohs when they delivered a powerful message to the rest of the competition defeating the club 29-10.
Despite the centre being one of the main contributors to the club's success, its hasn't stopped critics from continually judging him.
“I love it. Doubt me more and I'll show you, that just adds fire to the belly,” Best spoke on his critics.
“I think I probably relied on others to believe in me. It wasn't until the start of this year that [belief] came from within. Once I started doing that and playing good footy week-in, week-out, it flowed from there.
“I looked at myself and just really knew that I had it. There were plenty of doubters [regarding his Origin selection]. Plenty of haters and we were going in there 2-0 down as well. We were playing at home and knew we had to front up, but it's the same here in clubland.
“We get 20-30,000 turning up each week and you don't want to let them down. It's a really proud community ... so it's been a real thing for us to win at home this year and I think we've done a good job so far.”
