Incoming Knights coach Rick Stone has revealed the club is interested in offering Russell Packer a chance at NRL redemption once the controversial forward has been released from jail.
Packer has been imprisoned since January, when he pleaded guilty to assaulting a stranger in Sydney and stomping on his head in an alcohol-fuelled incident labelled "cowardly and reprehensible" by the presiding magistrate.
The former Warriors and New Zealand Test prop had only just moved to Newcastle to start a lucrative four-year deal with the Knights, but after his conviction the club terminated his contract.
Packer initially received a two-year non-parole period, which was reduced to 12 months on appeal.
He will be eligible for release in January and former Knights coach Wayne Bennett has been outspoken in his belief that the 24-year-old deserves a second chance in professional rugby league.
While Bennett has been angling to take Packer with him to the Broncos, Stone is similarly willing to give him an opportunity, providing he has been re-registered by the NRL.
"There's a bit of a process to go through with Russell," Stone said after yesterday's NSW Cup semi-final win against Illawarra.
"He's got to make up his mind where he'd like to play and probably then he's got to get registered by the NRL.
"But we're one of the clubs who have expressed some interest.
"Whether he decides to come and play for the Knights, only time will tell."
Stone said nobody at the Knights condoned what Packer did but declared "most people deserve a second chance".
"If we all had a good look at ourselves, we'd probably be disappointed with some of the things we may have done in the past," Stone said.
"We feel we've still got an obligation to Russell Packer.
"Obviously what happened, no one is going to condone it and we understand that.
"He's in a position where he's got to get his life back together, and if he chooses Newcastle to do that, we would consider it, that's all we're saying."
Packer has been incarcerated in Lithgow jail, a maximum security facility in the central west of NSW, and Stone indicated Newcastle officials visited him last week to discuss his future.
The coach also revealed that Packer's wife, Lara, and their two young children had remained in Newcastle rather than return to their native Auckland and the Knights had continued to support them during what must have been a harrowing time.
"Russell was in good spirits when we spoke to him last week," Stone said.
"He's learned some real tough lessons. Probably as tough a lesson as you can possibly learn, spending 12 months inside.
"Our first thoughts are getting him organised to be back in the community, more than footy.
"His partner has continued to live in Newcastle, and we've obviously stayed in close contact with her and helped her manage the situation with her two young kids.
"It's been a tough thing for her. But she's been real class.
"Russell's starting to get a few things like day release and weekends and stuff like that.
"As the year winds down, he'll get a bit more chance to get out and mix."
As well as Bennett, Packer's former coach at the Warriors, Ivan Cleary, is reportedly interested in signing him at Penrith.
Cleary was quoted recently as saying the NRL offered Packer an opportunity "to get his life back on track" and said "he's paid his dues as far as I'm concerned".
The precedents of Parramatta's Manu Ma'u and Warriors prop Suaia Matagi, both of whom are playing in the NRL after serving jail terms for assault, would appear to offer hope to Packer.
Former Knight Danny Wicks signed recently for Parramatta and hopes to resume his NRL career next season, having served an 18-month custodial sentence for drug dealing after being arrested in 2009.
