Heavy contact does not always mean heavy concussion.

Newcastle Knights fullback Brendan Elliot is set to play against Penrith on Friday, despite the concussion furore that is likely to cost his club $100,000.

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South Sydney racked up their eighth successive win against Newcastle with a 24-18 victory at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.

The former Newcastle winger's landmark concussion-related legal action against his old club began on Friday in the Supreme Court.

A limping Jarryd Hayne is in serious doubt for a grudge match against his former club Parramatta as a decimated Gold Coast Titans crashed to defeat against Newcastle.

Jarrod Mullen is set to face a maximum four-year ban after his B-sample came back positive for the banned anabolic steroid Drostanolone.

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.

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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.