As rumours in rugby league tend to do these days, the Jackson Hastings-to-Leeds furphy spread like wildfire on Tuesday after commentator and broadcaster Andrew Voss declared on Sydney radio the Knights halfback had signed with the English Super League club.
He hadn't, but with no proper checks and balances, it grew legs on social media to the point where there was an assumption of truth from many until it was officially denied.
Hastings has a year to run on a very lucrative contract at the Knights and hasn't even been given permission to negotiate elsewhere, let alone have signed another deal.
But what is fair to say at this point is that when it comes to Hastings' future beyond the end of this season, there are no real guarantees.
For the second time this year, he was dropped this week for Sunday's game against Penrith and, significantly, he won't even play halfback in NSW Cup. Instead, he will spend time at lock and hooker. That suggests his road back to the NRL won't be an easy one.
Add to that the fact the Knights have already signaled their intention to go after Storm back-up halfback Jonah Pezet for 2026 after November 1 and if successful, try to get him out of Melbourne a year early.
If that was to eventuate, a Hastings return to the Super League would then grow some serious legs.
'Ugly' Knights to stay
Knights coach Adam O'Brien drew some fire for labeling his side as "ugly" after the Broncos loss, claiming fans will have to be content with a no-frills style in attack if they want to see more wins this season.
He wasn't offering any apologies for the description when we asked him this week about his post-game comments.
"The simple answer to that is we are ugly and that's the way we need to play to win games," he said.
"We still have the DNA but the fact is we are not the team we were last season when we went on the winning streak. We don't have the same personnel.
"There's no Lachie Fitz, no Kurt Mann, no Dom Young and Kalyn [Ponga] and Tyson Gamble have both missed 10 games this year and are only just back. Now we've lost Bradman [Best].
"We're not the entertainers and we're not going to win games trying to be. Fans might want us to be this globetrotting team that is great to watch but that's not who we are and trying to play that way is not going to win us games."
Another office casualty
Former Knights recruitment officer Adam Doyle has joined a growing list of ex-club footy staff employees who have been shown the door after falling out with controversial Knights 'advisor' Blake Cannavo. We're told their beef was not seeing eye-to-eye over the playing future of Cannavo's son, Will, who attends boarding school in Sydney and played in the Knights' S.G Ball side this season.
On the road to nowhere?
Centre Krystian Mapapalangi's career at the Knights is in the balance after he was dumped from the side to meet Penrith on Sunday following a poor performance against the Broncos.
After being solid on the wing against Manly the previous week, Mapapalangi was MIA against Brisbane, coming up with just six runs for a meagre 55 metres.
His lack of involvement went down like a lead balloon with the people who will decide his future at the club.
It wasn't that long ago he was regarded as the heir apparent to Dane Gagai when he debuted as a 19-year-old in 2022 and he is earning close to $300,000 this season.
Two severe shoulder injuries last year saw him miss virtually the entire season and he is yet to recover confidence-wise.
Who is next in line?
If you were framing a betting market around who will be the next player to debut in the NRL for the Knights, we reckon frontrower Seb Su'a would be a short-price favourite.
Su'a, who will be in the top 30 squad next season, has impressed plenty at the club with his performances in NSW Cup, particularly over the past two months.
"I've been pushing his barrow for a while now - he'll handle it for sure," Knights' Cup coach Ronny Griffiths told us.
We won't be surprised if Su'a gets an opportunity off the bench if there is an injury or two before the season is out. What also won't surprise is if he attracts interest elsewhere if the Knights are unable to extend him before November 1.
Toohey's News column will return on August 22.
