Adam O'Brien's tenure as Newcastle coach appears increasingly fragile, with the NRL club cancelling media commitments ahead of Sunday's clash with Cronulla.
Already under pressure to hold on to his job, O'Brien's future is understood to have been a point of discussion at a Newcastle board meeting on Tuesday night.
Another meeting is now expected to be called for as soon as Thursday.
O'Brien is contracted until the end of 2027, but an early exit appears increasingly likely with the club now in a fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
There is also the potential that O'Brien could choose to walk away himself, and agree to an exit package with Knights bosses.
Cameras were still allowed in for Newcastle training on Wednesday morning, but interview opportunities with Thomas Cant and Phoenix Crossland were cancelled.
O'Brien's weekly pre-match interview on Saturday morning at McDonald Jones Stadium has also been pulled.
Having players take questions would have been a difficult ask, given no formal announcement over O'Brien's future has yet been announced by the NRL club.
O'Brien has taken Newcastle to the finals in four of six seasons since arriving at the club in 2020, with the highlight being a week-two finish in 2023.
But the club have been unable to make the step up and become a genuine title threat, before falling completely off the pace this year.
That situation has not been helped by a raft of injuries, but conjecture over Kalyn Ponga's future has also dominated headlines in the second half of 2025.
Newcastle's attacking coach Blake Green looms as the most likely replacement for O'Brien if the club does make a move.
Green is highly rated by many at Newcastle, but counting against him is the fact the Knights have scored almost 100 points less than any other team this year.
Beyond Green, Justin Holbrook, Brad Arthur and Willie Peters loom as other options.
Arthur agreed to a new deal with Leeds in the English Super League this month, keeping him at the club until the end of 2026.
At the time of the new deal, Rhinos CEO Ian Blease labelled Arthur "a man of his word".
Peters is also coaching in England at Hull KR, and had been linked to a possible job at Wests Tigers before Benji Marshall's team's late-season resurgence.
Holbrook, meanwhile, is currently working as an assistant under Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters after being harshly cut by the Titans in 2023.
O'Brien's situation comes just days after Des Hasler became the first coach to go this year, after the Titans announced Josh Hannay would replace him next year.
Hannay had largely been considered the best coach-in-waiting, but the Titans' decision to move first has taken the Cronulla assistant off the table.