The second superstar in the last week looks set to test the open market after reportedly knocking back a deal from their club.
Hot off the heels of Sam Walker saying he'd test his worth in November, Knights superstar Bradman Best now looks set to join him.
Much like with Walker, there will be 15 NRL sides lining up to have a crack at one of the game's elite centres.
Below I've narrowed it down to six potential landing spots.
Here are six potential landing spots for Bradman Best, come 2028:
6. Newcastle Knights
As is tradition, let's get the boring one out of the way. The Knights may respond quickly and up the offer to where Best re-signs before November first.
He is one of the competition's elite centres and looks Newcastle through and through. If the Knights were to lose him it would be catastrophic.
Best's injury concern is a little worrying and I believe is the only reason the Knights haven't offered "can't refuse" money.
With Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown on the books and with Dominik Young off-contract, Newcastle can't just hand over a blank cheque. I get it.
That said, the core of Ponga, Brown, Fletcher Sharpe, Dylan Lucas and Bradman Best sets Newcastle up for something potentially very special.
Unless Best is demanding insulting money, I'd be nudging the Knights to get this done before November first. There will be plenty of interest.
Hmmm Just because Craig Fitzgibbon hasn’t played Gabrael doesn’t mean Hiroti must be better. The Cronulla coach doesn’t like bringing in new people, possibly because he is afraid that they will take a few weeks to settle in. He’d rather play someone who he knows rather than someone who could be better later on. I suspect that he feels that the last few rounds of the season are the worst time to be bringing in anyone new. He is reaping the “rewards” of his “minimal risk” approach over the previous 20-odd weeks. Once Hiroti leaves at the end of the season, the coach will give Gabrael a run. Too late for 2026, though.
Storm ? No – they have recruited Xerri and Isako – as you have pointed out. Melbourne needs forwards and needs them now. They need to keep their salary cap available for any decent forward who becomes available for 2026, not contract another back and not one who will not be available for another twelve months.
Canberra ? Would he really want to go there ? Perth ? You could ask the same question. PNG ? Did he enjoy Covid so much that he wants to go back into living in a compound ?
If Bradman Best has any sense, he will just sit on his hands at Newcastle for 12 months, and negotiate at the end of season 2027, when he will become available _immediately_ and he can parlay that into some extra cash.