Tyrone Roberts has taken news of Trent Hodkinson’s impending move to Newcastle in his stride, even though it has put his NRL future under a cloud.

The current Canterbury and NSW halfback on Monday signed a three-year deal with the Knights, starting in 2016.

Roberts still has a season to run on his contract but there is speculation the club will encourage him to move on.

Gold Coast are in desperate need for a playmaker after missing out on Hodkinson and Daly Cherry-Evans reneged on his deal but claimed on Tuesday they hadn’t approached Roberts.

Knights forward Tariq Sims said his teammate appeared to be in a good frame of mind, despite the uncertainty.

“He’s bouncing around and humming along really nicely,” Sims said on the eve of Friday night’s clash with Canberra at GIO Stadium.

“I know he’s very determined to keep that spot.

“I’m expecting a big game out of him this weekend. He’s got the support of the full 17.”

Sims said he’s seen Roberts mature a lot in the short time he’s been at the club and trained “sharply” on Thursday.

“He led the boys around and was very dominate,” he added.

“I’m looking forward to the same 80 minutes come Friday night.”

The 24-year-old will reunite with playmaking partner Jarrod Mullen, who’s spent the past 10 weeks recovering from a foot injury.

Roberts and Mullen have played more than 80 games together and are Newcastle’s first-choice halves pairing.