Roosters coach Trent Robinson has blasted the Knights, accusing their chairman of “backtracking” during negotiations to sign Dom Young.
Robinson also addressed the club’s culture amid Brandon Smith’s departure and the potential arrival of Daly Cherry-Evans during an 18-minute press conference on Monday morning.
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The three-time premiership-winning coach was filthy with Newcastle officials who he accused of making an offer for Young and then not committing to it.
It was reported last week that the Roosters told Young he was free to leave immediately, but Robinson set the record straight on Monday.
“To be honest, all that’s been fairly annoying. The way it was sort of put out there was as if we were trying to push him out, which wasn’t the case,” Robinson said.
“Newcastle rang us – and having talked to his manager beforehand (who were) trying to get him out when he got dropped – and we said yes and then they wanted us to pay the whole year and we went, oh no if you want him (you pay for him).
“Their chairman said that they had the money to take him now and so we agreed his management wanted that. And then they’ve backtracked at the end of the week and today, so that’s really annoying.
“If you ask for something… then you stick by it and they haven’t done that.”
Robinson emphasised there was no bad blood between Young and himself and said the club had been transparent through the entire process.
“Dom and I had a good discussion last week when all this happened. We were clear about who instigated it,” he said.
“Dom and I are really clear on what happened and it didn’t come from us. It came from them. His management asked so we said okay if you want to go then go.
“We were going through the process there and then they (Newcastle) have said ‘Oh well you pay him out for the rest of the year’ and it’s like well if you want him, you want him. So they’ve backtracked on that.
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“Dom hasn’t done anything wrong in all of this either so it’s been really clear with us but it’s been an annoying week from our point of view and Dom’s point of view. It’s just not how you do things.”
Robinson said unless the Knights change their position then Young will be seeing out his contract which runs until the end of 2027.
“He’s on contract. There’s no issue. I thought Mark (Nawaqanitawase) was outplaying him. Really simple. That happens every week in sport around the world. It’s quite simple,” Robinson said.
“He’s a really good player. He’s an NRL player. He’s a starting NRL player but Mark was playing slightly better and you make that choice.
“And then things happen behind the scenes a lot in our game, which is quite normal, but it very rarely happens like it’s happened in the last week… when you say something back it up.
“We had not one discussion about letting Dom go at all. That wasn’t a discussion at all. Then we get approached by his management and they say we want this to happen. And we say fine, well you take up the contract and then they want us to release him but us to pay money for it when we weren’t even thinking about releasing him. In what world does that happen?
“Like you asked, you said that you had room in your cap, so get it sorted. You threw a guy’s life upside down for a week. Come on. That’s not how it works.
“I think they’re trying to bluff us into it, but we didn’t want it to happen. We didn’t instigate any of this.”
Robinson confirmed Smith would join the Rabbitohs this week as the club continues to free up cash to make a play for Cherry-Evans.
“Yeah look I said it maybe six weeks ago that we were interested. We haven’t had any discussions since then with management, but that’s still the case,” Robinson said.
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“We haven’t got to the point where we’ve sat down and had that conversation. We’ll get to it in due course, whether it can get worked out.
“But the freeing up is about building the best squad we can possibly build. That will be about we’re in negotiations with three of our guys that are already on contract. Some of the younger guys so we’re in negotiations with them as well.
“We’ve obviously recruited Reece (Robson) from outside for next year. There is an interest there. And I think we’ve been really clear on what we’ve been trying to do this year. I mean, everyone expected us to make some big moves last year. We’ve played a lot of these guys. I think we’ve got sort of 29 or 30 out of our full squad that have come through our system, as much as any team in the competition. And that’ll continue.”
Smith arrived at the Roosters from the Storm in 2023 on a three-year deal but it hasn’t worked out with the Kiwi international plagued by injuries and poor form.
Robinson admitted Smith’s first year at the club didn’t go to plan but said the middle forward hit form last season before rupturing his ACL.
“I feel like the first year was difficult,” Robinson said.
“He didn’t hit the form that we wanted in that first year and there were reasons for that. And then he was on a tear last year.
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“Often the case, people get into the rhythm of it a bit more (in their second season at a club), and he was playing some really, really good footy for us, and that shot us through the competition quite a bit until that knee injury.”
Robinson was asked about the club’s culture in the wake of several recruitment decisions that haven’t worked out.
“I think we’re pretty clear about who we want to be at the Roosters,” he said.
“We’re not perfect and there’s lots of different people that have fit into our culture over the course of time that I’ve been here and well before that.
“Yeah, there’s some people that fit better than others, but we’ve had a wide array of people over the course of a long period of time.
“I’m smiling because I start thinking of all the characters that we’ve had over the course of time that have had a really good value. And that’ll continue into the future.”
Robinson also downplayed chatter the club would lose rising star half Hugo Savala if they sign Cherry-Evans.
“Look, I’ve heard speculation about that. The manager hasn’t approached us directly about anything like that. Hugo’s here,” he said.
“I think we’ve really loved watching Hugo do his bit this year. He’s definitely a Rooster through and through, so his future’s here.”
Robinson also confirmed that injured halfback Sam Walker is five weeks away from returning from his ACL rupture.
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