He's a slender figure but Wayne Bennett casts a long shadow.

Rick Stone's sacking by Newcastle on Monday makes him the third NRL coach since 2011 to fall after stepping into a position left vacant by the seven-times premiership coach.

Ivan Henjak was the first man to stumble while following Bennett's footsteps, sacked by the Broncos after two seasons at Red Hill.

In May 2014, Bennett's successor at St George Illawarra, Steve Price, was given the boot by the Dragons less than three years after taking over from the veteran.

Now Stone has joined the club, cut by the Knights less than a year after he regained the job that he'd lost upon Bennett's arrival at Newcastle in 2012.

It's a history which is sure to make Broncos assistant coach Stephen Kearney just a tad nervous.

The former New Zealand international has reportedly been anointed as Bennett's successor when the time comes for the supercoach to hang up his clipboard.

Whether he can succeed where others have failed will now be the question he'll have to answer.

Newcastle have warned their under-performing playing group that they're on the chopping block after axing coach Rick Stone.

Chief executive Matt Gidley suggested the bloodletting would not stop at Stone, who will be replaced by club great Danny Buderus for the rest of the season, after an underwhelming 2015 in which they've won just six games.

Stone's position became untenable after the Knights logged just two wins since April and the club's board pulled the pin after their embarrassing 52-6 loss to South Sydney on Saturday.

However Gidley promised the players would also be held accountable.

The 2016 Knights squad is already shaping as vastly different to this year's group, with skipper Kurt Gidley to retire, Beau Scott on his way to Parramatta and NSW halfback Trent Hodkinson set to join Newcastle from Canterbury.

None of the Knights' senior playing group is off-contract at the end of 2015 and Gidley hinted some players could be moved on, warning they had six rounds to prove they wanted to be at the club.

"When you get the type of performances we've had over a long period of time, you've got to look to make changes," Gidley said.

"We can't just sit back and tolerate poor performances over an extended period of time.

"The easy option would be to get to the end of the year and do a formal review process.

"But we feel like there's an opportunity now for the team to use the next seven weeks to try and demonstrate some character traits that our club has been built on."

Gidley revealed the club board had been considering Stone's position for a number of weeks after their string of losses.

Buderus will take over as coach until the end of the year but has ruled out holding on to the position next year.

Former St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown and ex-Broncos mentor Anthony Griffin shape as the front runners after expressing desires to coach at NRL level again.

"[Stone's sacking] is something we've been considering for a number of weeks now," Gidley said.

"It's clear the team has been underperforming for a number of months now, which has been disappointing.

"We had a board discussion this morning and arrived at the position where we'd go our separate paths.

"We'll now go through a process looking to appoint a new coach." AAP