Newcastle are poised to re-sign promising forward Mitch Barnett on a three-year deal as the club turns its attention from retention to a host of recruitment targets.

Warriors second-rower Ryan Hoffman has scored a late winner for a 26-22 first- round win over Newcastle in Auckland, with the hapless Knights suffering their 19th-straight NRL loss.

Canterbury captain James Graham says players will continue to be frustrated when they are forced from the field with head knocks, but believes the NRL should be lauded for implementing protocols that protect them from themselves.

Former State of Origin winger James McManus's legal action against Newcastle centres on claims that his former club breached its duty of care to him in a series of incidents from 2012 to his concussion-enforced retirement in 2015 – including one episode in which he alleges he was directed to continue playing until the end of a semi-final against the Bulldogs.

• COMMENT

The former Knights winger has launched legal action against his old club for a series of concussions that ended his career

The Rugby League Players' Association has thrown its support behind former Newcastle and NSW State of Origin winger James McManus after he launched a civil case against the Knights in the NSW Supreme Court.

• EXCLUSIVE

Former NSW State of Origin winger James McManus is taking legal action against the Newcastle Knights over the club's handling of his concussions in a landmark case that will have huge ramifications for Australian sport.

James McManus says it was never his intention to become a trailblazer, but hopes his historic concussion case will result in better protections for players suffering head knocks in the future.

It started with a starring performance in the Indigenous All Stars' 34-8 win over the NRL World All Stars on Friday, includes playing a key role in an improved Newcastle Knights and culminates, he hopes, with a place in the Australian squad for the World Cup.

Newcastle has added Dale Finucane to a growing hit list of recruitment targets that includes Jack Bird and Matt Scott as the cashed-up club prepares to open its war chest.

A lucrative Newcastle offer may force North Queensland prop Matt Scott to abandon his dream of being a one-club NRL player.

Newcastle Knights are set to give former Test second-rower Anthony Tupou an NRL lifeline.

Newcastle have put a 10-week timeframe on NRL forward Pauli Pauli's recovery from a dislocated hip suffered in a car crash.

Newcastle legend Danny Buderus has backed the 'Our Knights One Chance' campaign, believing the club will prosper if placed in the hands of its community.

Newcastle have suffered their fourth body blow in the space of a cursed week after the club confirmed on Monday that key recruit Rory Kostjasyn was facing surgery and at least 12 weeks on the sidelines.

Newcastle forward Pauli Pauli will undergo scans next week which will decide his NRL playing future following his horrific car crash.

Newcastle Knights prop Pauli Pauli remains in Gosford Hospital with a dislocated hip after he was involved in a serious seven-car pile-up on the M1 Pacific Motorway north of Sydney overnight.

The mother of a former rugby league player who unsuccessfully tried to sue a governing body after a scrum collapsed and left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life warned Alex McKinnon has every right to pursue a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the NRL.

The NRL has long resisted pressure to ban lifting tackles even in the wake of the Alex McKinnon incident, instead promising harsher penalties for illegal versions of it. There might have been a reason why.