David Klemmer is struggling to salvage his huge contract with Newcastle Knights despite reports he could be sacked outright – but it appears he has the support of his team-mates as an ugly stalemate looms.
The prop master was issued a notice of the show’s cause after he allegedly refused to leave the field and berated coach Hayden Knowles during the club’s 24-10 loss to the Bulldogs.
Klemmer has not been called up for the Wests Tigers this weekend and the Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie is reporting he could have his contract terminated, with the issue possibly being bigger than just the incident on the pitch.
“He’s fighting to save his career and it’s been suggested he could be fired immediately,” Ritchie said Big sports breakfast On Wednesday.
“… There will be meetings between both parties today.
“It’s an odd situation, there’s more to this story than Klemmer being removed due to an on-field argument with her head coach, Hayden Knowles. I don’t know what the rest of the story is, but it will undoubtedly come out.”
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When asked if Klemmer could be fired just because of the weekend’s incident or if there were bigger issues at play, Ritchie replied, “I don’t know… I would find it hard to suggest that that incident alone would be enough to end a.” Contract.”
Fellow Telegraph Report David Riccio then shed some light on the situation at the Hunter,
“I think that’s a mile in the sand, to be honest,” Riccio said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“This is the Newcastle Knights understanding that this season is unraveling, it’s falling apart to be fair, it’s getting worse with each passing week.
“If they don’t stand against certain player behavior now, what do they stand for in the future?
“I believe that and I understand that it was significant enough, the verbal on the field, to justify this disciplinary action.”
That telegraph also reported that a group of Knights players are preparing to confront the club, unhappy with the treatment of Klemmer.
Klemmer is signed with the Knights until late 2023 – believed to be worth up to $900,000 a year – and the latest development comes after he’s been with for the rest of the season – and possibly beyond been linked to a move to the Parramatta Eels.
The 28-year-old was reportedly unhappy that the deal hadn’t gone through before the August 1 NRL transfer deadline.
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NRL 360 Co-host Paul Kent revealed details of the alleged on-field incident on Tuesday night.
“It happened in the final minutes of the game over a series of tackles where they kept trying to get him off the field,” Kent said.
“Now Klemmer just didn’t want to leave. He was disciplined, he wasn’t picked after this weekend’s game.”
The Knights released a statement on Tuesday confirming that an on-field disciplinary matter had taken place, although they opted not to go into further detail.
Those of the Daily Telegraph Paul Crawley described the show’s announcement as “strange” as Newcastle took action by dumping Klemmer before giving him a chance to explain himself.
The veteran rugby league reporter suggested the Klemmer incident was just a small part of the much larger problems at the Hunter.
“It’s bigger than that,” Crawley said.
“There is a problem in Newcastle that everyone is ducking and covering, there are players up there who are not happy. There is a division within the club and no one can deny it. You just have to look at their performance.
“There are of course some players out there who aren’t really happy and David Klemmer probably caught fire over the weekend.
“Something happened to him on the field, he didn’t want to run away, but I assure you there must be more to it than that.”
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Crawley’s theory was supported by Braith Anasta, who said blasts like the one Klemmer had to be substituted on Sunday afternoon “happens every weekend”.
“It happens every weekend at a club where a player doesn’t want to come off the field or argues with his coaches,” said Anasta.
“I don’t know to what extent, but an announcement about a show is very dramatic at 6pm on a Tuesday night where they didn’t get him in the side. There must be more in there. It just has to be.”
As Kent further pointed out, there have been reports that Parramatta was trying to catch Klemmer ahead of the mid-season transfer deadline, which only adds fuel to the fire.
“It’s interesting that Parramatta approached the Knights yesterday to get him on a loan deal,” Kent said.
“As far as I know, Klemmer was ready to go but he has to go to Newcastle next year. He wanted at Parramatta next year plus the year after which they were unwilling to leave, suggesting he might be happy to leave Newcastle.
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Former teammate James Graham said Klemmer “looks very frustrated” and can understand why he may have resisted coming off the field.
“He has very high expectations of himself and is proud of his achievements and especially his numbers,” said Graham.
“He can be one of those guys who is reluctant to leave the field. Also against his old club. I can understand why he wanted to stay out there.
“There were times when those center forwards rotated and Klemmer protested leaving the field if he felt he could influence the result.”
However, Corey Parker called it “a load of BS” and took aim at Newcastle to discipline Klemmer, whom he described as “the club’s alpha male”.
“Seriously dumping someone for saying no to go to the coach,” Parker said.
“I played 16 years and every time I was asked to leave the field I would hesitate to the point where I would say a few swear words to the coach to let him know I didn’t want to leave. He is the club’s alpha male and plays against his former club.
“Are we playing rugby? He’s the first rower at a rugby league club, will he just bow and walk away? I’ve played with and against Klem and he’s a tough, uncompromising and resilient front rower.”
However, Graham responded by pointing out that sometimes a player needs to put their own personal thoughts aside and prioritize the team’s best interests.
In that case, although he thought the decision to drop Klemmer was “strange,” Graham said coach O’Brien may have been trying to set a standard by dropping the enforcer.
“Nobody wants to be relegated, but if your club sees something and you’re part of a rotation and it comes from the top,” Graham said.
“It seems strange [to take him off then]. We sprayed all sneakers. I think it’s the fact that he didn’t come off the field. Personally I think they’ve had a bad week, O’Brien is trying to set a precedent and build his club.
“We heard that O’Brien is setting standards for next year.”
The drama is hardly what Newcastle needed as they try to halt a worrying slump in form that has seen the club drop four games in a row and lose 14 of their last 17 to tumble down the ladder.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien came under fire earlier in the week for his comments following the recent loss to the Bulldogs, in which he pointed to his involvement in “four big finals”.
“It’s difficult for me too,” said O’Brien in the press conference after the game.
“Before I got this job here, I was involved in four big finals.
“I know how these teams prepared. I know the systems they used for defense.
“One does not forget this knowledge. Applying and anchoring it will clearly take some time.
“Week after week we can talk about one area of that defense and we can fix it in seven days, but then we’re going to let down another area of our defense.
“It’s going to take a little while, and I know some people don’t want to wait that long, but it is.”
O’Brien spoke to the media again on Tuesday to clarify these comments and admitted he would “love to” have that press conference back.
“I clearly didn’t articulate the message I was trying to convey, and I apologize for that,” he said.
“It seems I’m an egomaniac. I was trying to get my message across to the supporter who is sitting on the hill wondering if he is practicing defensive and tackle technique. Are you fit, tough?
“I tried to talk to them about the guys training at a really high level. I’ve tried to give hope to the people on the hill that we’re training at a high level – that doesn’t translate to the field and the responsibility lies squarely with me.
“I don’t take the awards for the success of these clubs, that’s the work of Craig (Bellamy) and Trent (Robinson). I’m trying to do that here. We’re on our way, but we’re not there yet.”