Wests Tigers step up bid to snare Klemmer as Bulldogs circle
Newcastle enforcer David Klemmer has been taken on a tour through the Wests Tigers’ facility as the club looks to add some aggression to its pack.
The Herald can reveal the Tigers have opened discussions with Klemmer about joining the club as early as next season.
The 28-year-old was given a private tour of the Tigers’ impressive new Concord facility last week as they try to lure him to the joint-venture club. The Tigers are considering offering Klemmer, who at his peak was considered the best prop forward in the competition, another two years on top of his contract for next year.
Sources with knowledge of the situation told the Herald that the Canterbury Bulldogs have also expressed interest in Klemmer returning to the club he debuted with in 2013.
The Newcastle Knights are open to releasing Klemmer from the final year of his deal even though he won the club’s players’ player award at the their end-of-season awards night.
The Tigers are adamant Klemmer’s potential arrival at the club is not part of a swap deal for halfback Luke Brooks, who at this stage remains a key part of new coach Tim Sheens’ plans next year.
David Klemmer.Credit:NRL Photos
The Knights have been circling Brooks for the past 12 months but the Tigers haven’t budged. They rejected release requests from Brooks’ management last year.
Brooks is coming into the final season of his four-year deal with the Tigers. The contract was designed to gradually increase in salary each year, with the embattled No.7 set to earn almost $1.1m in 2023.
Sheens has a big decision to make during the summer as he mulls over his starting halves with Jackson Hastings, Adam Doueihi and Brooks all contending for two positions.
The Bulldogs have also shown interest in Klemmer’s services, however they will have to offload players to accommodate the former NSW and Australian forward in an already stretched salary cap.
Like Brooks, Klemmer is in the final year of a four-year deal with the Knights. His final year is worth about $800,000. He joined the Knights from the Bulldogs in 2020, but is open to returning to Belmore despite leaving on a sour note under the club’s previous administration.
Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo want to bring back some Bulldogs DNA to the club and have discussed Klemmer’s return. It comes as the club signed off on a 12-week train-and-trial contract for cult hero Josh Reynolds.
Reynolds, who is the godfather to one of Klemmer’s four children, remains close friends with his former teammate. Klemmer’s position at the Knights was placed under the microscope towards the end of the season when club powerbrokers privately manoeuvred to have the front-rower sacked for an on-field verbal altercation with trainer Hayden Knowles.
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