Newcastle Knights
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The Newcastle Knights are a National Rugby League team based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
A team also representing Newcastle played two seasons (1908-09) in the formative years of the NRL competition's predecessor, the New South Wales Rugby League.
- Club founded: 1988
- Home Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium (formerly known as Marathon Stadium and Newcastle International Sports Centre) (capacity 25,000, currently under renovation)
- Club colours: Red and Blue
- Logo Design: A knight's helmet with a red feather inside a blue box, with a white border, "Newcastle" on the top, and "Knights" in a scriptive-like font, with the K linking up with the helmet.
- ARL/NRL Premierships: 2 (1997, 2001)
- Reserve Grade Titles: 1 (1995)
- Club Championships: 1 (1992)
- World Sevens: 2 (1991, 1996)
- Club Sponsors: Coal and Allied, Subway, NIB Health Funds
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Club history
The Newcastle Knights entered the NSW Rugby League competition in 1988 with Allan McMahon as coach. The team was a success from the start becoming one of the most popular clubs in its first season. By 1990, the team was strong enough to enter a play-off for fifth spot losing to the Balmain Tigers. The club won its first competition, the Nissan Sevens, in 1991 and made the playoffs in 1992 where it was beaten by St. George.
The Knights made the semi-finals again in 1995 when the competition became the Australian Rugby League and won the reserve grade the same year. The club stayed loyal to the Australian Rugby League when Rupert Murdoch started Super League in an attempt to win pay television rights to rugby league - this decision was very popular in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley areas.
News Limited formed the Hunter Mariners to compete with the Knights in the one and only season of Super League in Australia but the Mariners failed to win much support in the area. The Knights won the 1997 Australian Rugby League premiership defeating the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22-16 in the Grand Final. This win was a huge morale boost to the district following the closure of the area's biggest employer the BHP Steelworks announced in 1997. Seventy per cent of the winning squad were Newcastle juniors.
From 1996 - 2003, the Knights have made seven final series in a row. In 1998, the Knights finished equal on points with the Brisbane Broncos but finished second on points differential. The Knights came third in 2000 followed by a National Rugby League Premiership victory over the Parramatta Eels in 2001. The club tied with the New Zealand Warriors in 2002 on the competition but finished second in the minor premiership due to inferior points differential. Andrew Johns won the Rothmans Medal for best player in the National Rugby League four years in a row between 1988 and 2001- the best performance by any player in the history of the award. Robbie O'Davis won the Clive Churchill Medal for best player in the 1997 Grand Final and Andrew Johns won it in 2001 Grand Final.
In 2004, injuries plagued the club, with Andrew Johns and Ben Kennedy out for extended periods of time. The club missed the finals, despite strong performances from Matt Gidley, Kurt Gidley and NSW State of Origin captain, Danny Buderus.
Following further injuries and a lack of experienced players, the club, as of late May, has failed to win a match in the 2005 premiership, having the worst start to a season by any club since the 1960s. Crowd figures nonetheless remain high.
Jennifer Hawkins, the 2004 Miss Universe is a former cheerleader for the Knights.
Coaches
- Allan McMahon (1988-1991)
- David Waite (1992-1994)
- Malcolm Reilly (1995-1997)
- Warren Ryan (1998-2000)
- Michael Hagan (2001-)
Prominent players
Including representative players first selected and other notable players and the years they first achieved the honours if known.
- Sam Stewart, Adrian Shelford, Tony Kemp (New Zealand) (1988)
- Gary Worth (Great Britain)
- Michael Hagan (1989) (QLD, 100 Games for the Club) (2004) (QLD coach)
- Mark Sargent (NSW, Australia) (1990)
- Mike McLean (Queensland) (1991)
- Adrian Brunker (Queensland)
- Paul Harragon (NSW, Australia) (1993) David Boyd and Marc Glanville (100 Games for club, NSW)
- Robbie McCormack, (100 Games for club, NSW) (1994)
- Matthew Johns, Andrew Johns, Adam Muir (NSW, Australia) (1995)
- Robbie O'Davis (Queensland, Australia) (1997)
- Tony Butterfield (1998) (NSW)
- Bill Peden Club Captain 2001
- Ben Kennedy, Timana Tahu, Matt Gidley have represented Australia and NSW in recent years.
- Mark Hughes (NSW)
- Danny Buderus captained the successful NSW State of Origin captain in 2004 and also represented Australia.
- Kurt Gidley (NSW) (2004)
Controversy
In 1998 player Robbie O'Davis and Adam McDougall tested positive for steroids. Both received 10-odd week bans.
The club has become embroiled in a scandal involving the conduct of several players after a trial game against the Penrith Panthers in Bathurst in late February 2005. Players ventured to an downtown dormitory of Charles Sturt University and caused a ruckus with unruly behaviour. One player has been accused of indecent assult, a complaint was lodged with local police, and then withdrawn.
As a result, the club sacked rookie Dane Tilse, fined 12 players a total of $50,000 and the club itself was fined $100,000 by the NRL.
The cost to the club in terms of sponsorship could be much more damaging, with a deal worth $2.25 million with electronics company Gizmondo Europe already being cancelled. The club will go into the first round of the 2005 NRL season without a naming rights sponsor. It was, however made public that Gizmondo Europe had rejected a proposal from the Knights not over the Bathurst Incident, but because their Australian launch was not finalised.
After 14 weeks of the 2005 National Rugby League season, the Knights finally landed a main sponsor - Coal & Allied, a Hunter-based mining company.
Source
- ABC Australian Sports Almanac 2002
- Newcastle Knights web site (http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/about/history.asp/)