Reliable home-grown hooker and three-time premiership-winner Olivia Higgins has re-signed with the Newcastle Knights for a further three years. The club announced on Friday that Higgins and fellow off-contract forwards Simone Karpani, Viena Tinao and Nita Maynard had all been retained as the club eyes a third straight premiership in 2024. Higgins and Karpani have extended their contracts for three more years, Tinao for an extra two seasons while Maynard has committed for another campaign. Local talent Lilly-Ann White and Leah Ollerton have signed two-year deals, taking up NRLW development contracts next season. "We finished the 2023 season, we had 18 players signed out of the top 24 and we hadn't put in place any of our development list players," Knights director of football Peter Parr said. "So to now have 22 players signed, two of our development list spots secured, that places the club in a really good position going forward. "Going back-to-back is not easy to do, so the players that have achieved that, they deserve immense credit, and I think one of the best ways to get success over a sustained period of time is to keep a stable group together, and that's what we've been able to do. "The 22 players that we have signed at the moment were either in our top squad in 2023 or have come from our development list, so I think that's a great stepping stone towards 2024." The Knights are yet to appoint their next NRLW coach with dual premiership-winning mentor Ronald Griffiths taking on the club's NSW Cup side in 2024.