Bridges has committed himself to the club for a further two seasons while in the last few days Adam D'Apuzzo, who had previously looked on his way out of the club, has also decided to remain in the Hunter.

Labinot Haliti, Tarek Elrich and Marko Jesic will also be part of the Newcastle set up again next season.

However, Matt Thompson, Jason Hoffman and Joel Griffiths have decided to move on. Jin Hyung Song is also believed to be looking for a move. Ljubo Milicevic is still to decide although he has been strongly linked with the new Melbourne Heart franchise.

Dutch import Donny de Groot has also left the club, heading back to his native Holland this week after being frozen out of the side since Branko Culina took over as coach.

Bridges hopes those still weighing up whether to stick or twist will hang around.

"Big Ljubo would be a loss, no mistake," Bridges told au.fourfourtwo.com. "I just hope we can keep as many as we can (out of contract players). To be honest, the more the merrier."

Bridges, who couldn't prevent his team crashing 3-1 to Sydney FC on Sunday, has also hailed the contribution of a player who has decided to move on at the end of the campaign.

"Matty Thompson the skipper is leaving but for me he has been inspirational," said Bridges. "What better player have we had since the turnaround?"