The NRL therefore will adopt an auction approach to the sale of the Newcastle club, seeking a figure between $10 million and $20 million. On the block: The Newcastle Knights have struggled this year. Credit:Jonathan Carroll The NRL's Head of Club Services, Tony Crawford, said that "at the point we exit our shareholding, we clearly have an eye to the market around football clubs, but equally we will ensure the new ownership acts in the interest of the club, the community and the game". While past owner Nathan Tinkler has been lampooned for his stewardship, he did leave the Knights debt-free and with $6.7 million in cash from day one of the NRL takeover. Certainly, other debts have surfaced and the club has a $2.5 million over three years loan facility with the NRL, with $1 million already drawn and the possibility of calling on a further $1 million.

The new owner will need to buy a competitive team, insofar as the NRL inherited an ageing roster following Tinkler's dictate to former coach, Wayne Bennett, to "win me a premiership". The obvious buyer of the Knights, the wealthy Wests Newcastle group of seven licensed premises, claims to be a reluctant partner. "We see ourselves as owners of the last resort," said the chief executive of the Wests Group, Phil Gardner, who sits on the board of the Knights as an appointee of the NRL, rather than his employer. While the NRL under former chief executive Dave Smith saw the Wests Group as a logical partner of the Knights, being a stable community-based organisation with a membership passionate about their NRL team, Gardner hinted there may be other interested potential investors. "There will be interest from unusual people when the ownership issue is approached," he predicted, a reference to local half-billionaires who attended a recent meeting to discuss third-party opportunities with players.

While the NRL has made it clear existing debts have to be satisfied in conjunction with ownership restructures, Gardner denied that inheriting debt was a roadblock to a Wests Newcastle takeover. "We have not had any discussion with the NRL over debt because there has been no discussion with them over ownership," he said. However, other sources insist Gardner, a sharp negotiator, put up his hand for ownership of the Knights with a $1 offer the day the NRL took it over. He certainly presents a parlous position of the Knights in the post-Tinkler days. "We got an empty money bag from Tinkler," he said, "But the NRL has been fantastic for the Knights, particularly Tony Crawford who has done a great job. They saved the day. We were looking at liquidation. The club was in a terrible position.

"We're a test tube baby," Gardner added, describing Tinkler as "a power of one", a single owner who burnt off all other commercial opportunities in Newcastle. "Somewhere there is an outcome, and we've been a consistent supporter since the Knights were formed in 1988. "In any year, we could have taken them over but we've never moved to even part ownership because we always thought of the Knights as a separate entity." Hmmm. "The game is incredibly expensive to run. Even billionaires find it hard to stay. Third-party deals have pushed the expenses out further," he said, treading the delicate path of NRL-appointed board member and representative of a potential buyer.