Recruit watch: Jackson Hastings

The NRL market has been in full swing for 2023 with several stars switching clubs ahead of the new season.

NRL.com takes a look at the major transfers and how your club will benefit from a star arrival.

Jackson Hastings (Knights)

• Age: 26
• Position they’ll fill: Halfback
• Contracted until: 2025

What Hastings can bring 

Jackson Hastings arrives at the Knights with plenty of rugby league and life experience after an eight-year journey that's consisted of six clubs across two hemispheres.

For a club that is desperate to turn the screws after a disappointing 2022 campaign, Hastings could just be the man to get the Knights back on track.

Hastings showed signs of helping the Wests Tigers out of their finals woes in his first season back in the NRL but ultimately had little room to move before injury cruelled his brief stint at the joint venture. 

He was one of the best running halfbacks in 2022, averaging 128.5 metres per game in his 11 appearances to go with six try assists.

The man of steel recipient in 2019, the 26-year-old isn't afraid of getting into the thick of the action, while he proved with his one-point field goal against Parramatta on Easter Monday in 2022, he's also willing to step up when it matters.

The Knights should get better direction under Hastings in 2023 as the rugby league journeyman begins the prime stages of his career.

Why it’ll work

Newcastle really struggled with their direction and a consistent halves pairing that took it to opposition sides in 2022.

The departure of Mitchell Pearce at the end of 2021 left the Knights a key playmaker short throughout the year and it showed.

Adam Clune tried his best with 12 try assists in 18 games but was never brought to the club as a primary halfback while Phoenix Crossland is yet to make his mark in the NRL despite 35 appearances in four seasons.

Anthony Milford showed up mid-year but his move to the Dolphins made the stint short-lived. 

Hastings had a connection to the club before he arrived at Newcastle, openly declaring Andrew Johns as an idol growing up, and along with the Roosters, he was a Knights fan.

That won't necessarily mean much in his overall performances but the passion for the town and those around him appears to already be there, and for a player who has copped some heat over the years for his personality, that's a good sign.

He's also working with Johns on a weekly basis, which should help take his game to greater heights. If Hastings can embrace the Knights, it won't take long for the town to embrace him.

With confidence, Hastings plays at his best with a legion of support behind him.