Warriors owner keen to check out
Knights

Sydney newspapers are reporting that New Zealand Warriors owner Eric Watson has emerged as a potential buyer of the Newcastle Knights if the NRL club is privatised.

During an unscheduled gathering of directors convened by new Knights chairman Mike Tyler on Wednesday, the Newcastle board appointed a committee to investigate privatisation.

Tyler revealed that he had also arranged talks on the issue with Warriors chief executive Mick Watson while the Auckland-based team is in Newcastle for Sunday's match.

While insisting that he was merely interested in learning about the ownership model at the Warriors, Tyler says the Knights are keen to listen to any proposal put forward by Watson at the meeting.

As the only NSW-based NRL franchise without the backing of a leagues club, the Knights have had to juggle finances and are still without a major sponsor since the pre-season fiasco involving Knights players raiding a nurses home in Bathurst.