The Newcastle Knights have confirmed forward Pasami Saulo will return to the club in 2026.

The prop, who is a Maitland junior, commenced his first-grade career with the Knights in 2018.

A former Australian Schoolboy who worked his way through the the club's pathways, Saulo played 27 games with the Knights between 2018 and 2022 before leaving for the Canberra Raiders.

His three-year stint in Canberra has seen him manage 31 games, being on the fringe of the first-grade side in Ricky Stuart's set up for the most part.

The prop forward, who also represented the Maori All Stars in 2020, has failed to feature in first-grade this year, and has been linked with a move back to Newcastle for some time which has now been confirmed on a two-year deal through to the the end of 2027.

Knights head of recruitment Peter O'Sullivan said the club were happy to have Saulo back.

“We are so excited to bring Pasami home to where his football career started," O'Sullivan said in a club statement confirming the news.

“Pasami is everything we are looking for to bolster our squad, a big athletic middle forward with a strong presence and powerful ball carry.

“He is Newcastle through and through, we can't wait to see him back in the Knights red and blue in 2026."

Saulo joins the Knights alongside other recruits Dylan Brown from the Parramatta Eels and Peter Hola from the Dolphins amid a Knights salary cap clean out.

While they lost Daniel Saifiti prior to this year getting underway, and have since let Paul Bryan (Manly Sea Eagles), Jye Linnane (New Zealand Warriors) and Will Pryce (Hull FC) leave early, the club have also been confirmed to lose Jayden Brailey (Canberra Raiders), Riley Jones (Cronulla Sharks), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wests Tigers), Sebastian Su'a (The Dolphins) and Leo Thompson (Canterbury Bulldogs) for next year.

That is joined by the persistent rumours that all of Adam Elliott, Jackson Hastings and Jack Hetherington will not have their contracts renewed.

Dane Gagai yesterday confirmed he would remain with the club into 2026, while Tyson Frizell is yet to make a call on his future.