GAMBLE by name, gambler by nature.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Effervescent five-eighth Tyson Gamble has explained his decision to defer contract talks with the Newcastle Knights, saying he wants to reaffirm his value before resuming negotiations.
Gamble, who made his 50th NRL appearance in last week's season-opening loss to Canberra, is off contract at the end of this campaign and held discussions recently about extending his tenure.
But instead of proceeding, the 27-year-old asked for extra time in a bid to improve his bargaining position with on-field performances.
It is potentially a risky approach, given that new recruits Jack Cogger and Will Pryce are both capable of playing at five-eighth, but Gamble is backing himself to rise to the challenge.
"I think it's the best thing for me," he told the Newcastle Herald.
"I just want to play good footy.
"I know it goes both ways. The club showed faith in wanting to re-sign me, but I want to play good footy for them.
"If I'm not playing good footy, I don't see they why they should honour me with a contract.
"So it works both ways.
"I want to stay. I don't want to go anywhere else.
"I want to end my career here as a Newcastle Knight, and I just want to prove to everyone how much I want to be here.
"It wasn't a decision about money or anything like that.
"I just want to prove myself ... I'm very appreciative that the club wants to re-sign me, and hopefully I can put my best foot forward for the next five or six rounds and then we can get back to the negotiating table."
Gamble said his selection for round one, after pundits such as Matthew Johns were urging Knights coach Adam O'Brien to pick Cogger in his starting line-up, was reassuring.
"It's a nice feeling when your coach backs you," he said. "It gives you a lot of confidence.
"The coach has picked me for round one, so he's shown faith in me and I want to show him that I can get the job done."
A late bloomer who arrived at the Knights last season after stints with Wests Tigers and Brisbane, Gamble established himself as a regular top-grader, appearing in 24 of Newcastle's 26 games.
But he acknowledged that the arrival of Cogger, who produced a match-turning cameo off the bench for Penrith in their grand final triumph last year, had raised the stakes for himself and halves partner Jackson Hastings.
"Obviously with Coggs coming here, it's put a lot of pressure on myself and Jacko to perform," he said.
"And I just want to show that I can do it, that I deserve to wear the No.6 jersey and that it's mine to lose."
In the disappointing first-up loss against Canberra, Gamble was one of Newcastle's better performers.
He produced a try assist for back-rower Tyson Frizell, and was denied one himself by the video referee after an obstruction in the lead-up play.
"I thought we played OK as a spine, but we probably didn't finish our sets all that well," he said. "We pushed too many passes and competed at about 60 per cent, and you can't win a game when you do that.
"We were hanging in there in the first half, but it's a game of two halves, and we were awful in that second half."
Gamble said ball control would be crucial in Townsville on Saturday when the Knights clash with North Queensland Cowboys, who are coming off a 43-18 demolition of the Dolphins.
"You start the year basing your game around completion rates, where you give the ball over to them, and we just pushed too many passes [against Canberra]," he said.
"We didn't finish our sets all that well, but fortunately it's round one, not round 20."