Newcastle are likely to be granted salary cap relief following the retirement of Andrew Johns that would allow them to spend about $240,000 on a new player or players for this season - if the club can afford the extra money and the right players become available.

But coach Brian Smith said if the club did decide it had the money to spend, it did not necessarily mean he would target a player in the halves.

Jarrod Mullen, who was considered the eventual replacement for Johns, has been switched from five-eighth to halfback and Daniel Abraham has gone from lock to five-eighth. "Mullen has got plenty of potential at halfback," Smith said yesterday.

"And I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on someone in the halves because Abraham is at least a good chance of being a long-term prospect at five-eighth.

"The other player already at the club who I like as a potential five-eighth for us is Chris Bailey, who is out with a shoulder problem at the moment."

There is a clause in the standard NRL playing contract that allows for clubs to apply for relief should a permanent injury force a player to retire.

The Knights would be expected to be granted that relief should they apply for it over the Johns situation, which the club's acting chief executive, Steve Crowe, said yesterday they would do.

But, Crowe added it remained to be seen whether the Knights would spend the extra money. He said that would depend on budgetary considerations.

Johns was understood to be on $450,000 a season under his contract with Newcastle, which wasn't due to run out until the end of next season.

NRL contracts run from November 1, which means Johns was almost five-and-a-half months into the first year of the deal when he retired on Tuesday.

Presuming the Knights apply for relief within the next few days, that would mean they could spend about another $240,000 and still be under the cap for this year. But it would be extra money spent, because Johns will still be paid out in full by the club for this year.

He won't be paid for next year, which leaves the club with $450,000 worth of room to move.

"The board would have to decide whether extra spending could be afforded for this year," Crowe said.

Asked if he was already looking for players should he become able to spend more for this year, Smith said he was "always looking", but that there was no point in going too far down the track until he found out whether the extra funds were available.

"I'll wait for the board outcome there," he said. "And it's possible that if there is extra money available, it could be spent on updating the contracts of some players already at the club.

"But, whatever happens, we'll have a fair amount of money available under the salary cap for next year. That's the only positive out of Joey getting hurt - that we know early on how we're placed under the cap for next year."

Meanwhile, Johns, when interviewed yesterday, disagreed when it was suggested to him that the game wouldn't be the same now he is no longer playing.

"I watch the game now and there are so many young guys coming through," he said. "And the skill of the young guys, you know, I look at [North Queensland halfback] Johnathan Thurston, for one, and he's doing things in his career that I could never do. So there is always someone to jump in there.

"I would say players have got extra skill now. I think young players are just introduced to professionalism so much earlier.

"I think the game is going incredibly well at the moment. I watched games on the weekend and I was blown away by the skill level and how intense it is."

Johns said he was still coming to terms with his retirement, which was forced on him when scans revealed a problem with his neck.

The medical report led to what Knights club doctor Neil Halpin described as a potential catastrophic spinal injury had he continued to play.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Johns said. "But I'm sure it will in the next couple of days."