- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Newcastle Knights joined the NSWRL in 1988 and have two premierships to their name. A host of champion players have turned out in the red, blue and white since their inception, including the likes of the Johns brothers, Matt and Kurt Gidley, Paul Harragon, Dane Gagai, Mark Hughes, Michael Hagan, Robbie O’Davis and Adam Muir.
Their greatest-ever team is right up there with the best of them, but who makes their greatest team of the NRL era, a period when they not only won a premiership in 2001, but also finished with four wooden spoons.
Here’s my team, showing the number of games they played for the Knights in the NRL era, and the only selection criteria is that they must have played a minimum of 50 top grade games for the club from the 1998 season on.
1. Kalyn Ponga (124*)
Ponga is a lethal attacking weapon, a handful for any defence to contain, and would be ranked in the top ten fullbacks to play the game in the NRL era. When Ponga plays well, Newcastle plays well.
2. Darren Albert (53)
If you like wingers with blinding speed who can either run in a try from his own goal line or run down almost any opponent to save one, then Albert’s your man.
3. Matt Gidley (190)
Gidley was a classy centre who had the complete game. He was a strong defender, a prolific try scorer in his own right, and could get the ball away to his supports in the tightest of situations. He was a regular inclusion in both the Australian and NSW teams for most of his career.
4. Adam MacDougall (147)
MacDougall was a hard running and tough tackling outside back who was equally at home at either centre or on the wing. He loved to dominate the opposition and played 11 games for each of Australia and NSW.
5. Akuila Uate (161)
Uate finished his time at Newcastle as the club’s highest ever try-scorer, crossing the line 110 times in 161 games. He was a crowd favourite, a powerful runner with speed to burn, and he represented Fiji, Australia and NSW during his career.
6. Matthew Johns (71)
Matthew Johns spent much of his career in the shadow of his more famous brother Andrew, but he played a big part in his brother’s development and rise to the pinnacle of the game. He was a very clever five-eighth, a shrewd on-field tactician, and like most Novocastrians, as tough as they come.
7. Andrew Johns (173)
Andrew Johns is a rugby league Immortal and was one of the finest half backs of his generation. He finished his career as Newcastle’s highest ever point scorer and won nearly every award there is to win, including three Dally M Medals.
Knights Immortal Andrew Johns. (Getty Images)
8. Tony Butterfield (71)
Butterfield was a no nonsense style of front rower who became a Knights stalwart after he joined Newcastle for their inaugural season in 1988. He was a great on-field leader and never took a backward step.
9. Danny Buderus (257)
After spending nearly 17 years with the club Buderus deservedly finished with the record for most games, winning two premierships along the way and the Dally M Medal in 2004, becoming the first hooker to do so. He played 25 Tests for Australia and 21 games for NSW.
10. Matt Parsons (106)
At over two metres tall and weighing in at around 130 kg, Parsons was one of the biggest men to play the game, but his mobility and work rate belied his size. He was a key part of the Knights’ premiership victory in 2001 and was always a difficult proposition for any opposition defence.
11. Ben Kennedy (86)
Try as I might, I can’t come up with a better forward than Ben Kennedy in the NRL era. Skilful, tough and hard-working, Kennedy was always in the game, whether breaking the defence on the edges of the ruck or closing down the opposition with his tough tackling.
12. Steve Simpson (216)
Simpson was a Knights’ stalwart, spending his entire career with the club from 1999 to 2010. He was relentless, as hard as nails and deservedly feared by the opposition. He won a premiership with the club in 2001 and was a regular selection for both NSW and Australia.
13. Billy Peden (127)
Peden was very much underrated during his career but not by anyone associated with the Knights. He was as tough as they come, never left anything on the field and was a big part of their premiership successes in 1997 and 2001.
14. Kurt Gidley (251)
A Newcastle legend, Kurt Gidley could seemingly do anything once he donned a Knights jersey – top the tackle count, kick goals, and play anywhere in the backline or at dummy half. He played 12 games for each of NSW and Australia and won a premiership with the Knights in 2001.
Kurt Gidley (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
15. Jeremy Smith (75)
No one ever got the better of Jeremy Smith, and apart from his well-deserved reputation as an enforcer, he was also a very clever forward who could always find a way to open up the opposition defence.
16. Mitch Barnett (126)
Barnett was another fearless operator who happily took the fight up to the opposition forwards every time he took the field.
17. Daniel Saifiti (183)
Saifiti is a man mountain, and when at his best is a devastating attacking weapon who is very hard to contain. He’s made seven appearances for NSW and played three Tests for Fiji to date in his career.
Now that’s a deadly spine backed up by a lethal backline and a very, very tough and uncompromising pack of forwards.
Did I leave anyone out?
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.