Newcastle brothers Adam and Luke MacDougall could still be with the club in 2010 after coach Brian Smith quashed suggestions the pair were on their way out at the end of the current season.<br><br>Smith told NRL.com on Monday that the pair could be among a small group of players headed elsewhere next year but was quick to clarify the club’s position today, insisting the Knights were still hopeful of retaining the pair.<br><br>While Luke – who has been plagued by injury since arriving from St George Illawarra in 2007 – is off contract at season’s end, Adam is still contracted to the club for another 12 months and is expected to make a decision on his playing future in the coming months.<br><br>“We’ve always said that Adam is a year-by-year proposition and in this case it’s up to him whether he wants to go around for another year,” Smith said.<br><br>“If he wants to play again then he’ll be with us next season.<br><br>“There was a bit of confusion this week in regards to his situation but we’re certainly not thinking that we’ll be without him at this stage.”<br><br>Smith said on Monday that the MacDougalls would “both finish up with us this year and we’ll probably lose one or two more but hopefully not too many” but said today that it was simply a case of their futures remaining unresolved.<br><br>“We’ve secured most of our squad now, they just happen to be two of the players we don’t know about yet.<br><br>“In Adam’s case that’s completely up to him and we’re not in any hurry – we’re not going to rush him into a decision on next season.<br><br>“There is no urgency with either.”<br><br>MacDougall’s manager George Mimis said recent complications with Adam’s ongoing knee problems had delayed a decision on his future, but that “he had been playing some exceptional football before that.<br><br>“He’s still waiting to see how he pulls up but he is feeling pretty refreshed after a few weeks off.<br><br>“He’ll make a decision in the next couple of months.”<br><br>Smith said that the club was waiting to see how Luke’s comeback from injury goes over the coming weeks after he played his first game of the year for Lakes United last weekend.<br><br>Utility Matt Hilder and back-rower Richard Fa’aoso remain the only other Newcastle players yet to be re-signed for 2010.<br>
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