Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
- 30,511
- 21,250
I was thinking about the Knights and how it all went pear shape for them.
The narrative seems to be that Bennett and Tinkler left them in a mess and while that's true to an extent, I think it runs deeper than that. Time has seemingly forgotten that in 2005 Newcastle didn't win their first game until Round 16. While they were able to bounce back through Joey, they were no longer a force in the game and really hadn't been since 2002.
I think Hagan fell asleep at the wheel and let a lot of good talent fall between the cracks like Greg Inglis and his signings left so much to be desired. One of the reasons why Newcastle were so successful is that they had the best of both worlds and while they had some of the best players coming through their system they complimented them with promising players like Adam MacDougall, Ben Kennedy, Matt Parsons etc. You look at the signings that came later like Kirk Reynoldson, Dustin Cooper, Russell Richardson, Tim Maddison and it was just a far cry for what happened.
Brian Smith came into the club and he was brought into really change the culture of the club. The issue is that Smith made a lot of enemies at the club along the way and it fed the media machine. Smith constantly found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons, to the point where once he was offered the job at the Roosters he jumped at it.
Smith was a very talented coach who could identify things in players that other coaches would often overlook. He was fantastic at making some very astute signings and drafting up gameplans that highlighted weaknesses in the opposition. The problem was the Knights were still a work in progress when Smith left and things were about to get worse. Arguably his two best signings were Danny Wicks and Chris Houston, two very strong prospects from the St George Illawarra system and both of them were charged with drug related offences.
On top of that a lot of the Knights success came down to the form of Kurt Gidley who was so highly involved he performed the job of three players. I think fans forget just how good he was from 2007-09 before the weight of the New South Wales captaincy got to him and injuries started to pile up. He missed a fair portion of the Knights 2010 season and really struggled to find that form that form that made him one of the top players in the game.
Still, the Knights played above themselves and finished with an acceptable 10-14 record. The following year, they'd go 2 games better going 12-12 and qualifying for the finals. The problem was, that was their ceiling and a lot of players from that time period peaked then and there.
The concerning thing is that Newcastle really didn't have a lot of talent coming through. They couldn't afford to run a NSW Cup side, so they organised an affiliation with the Central Coast where they'd send their depth players so they could play some footy. Their U/20s, which was a competition they usually performed well in, struggled with their highest finish being 8th in 2011.
It's actually why I find the discussion surrounding Bennett and the long term future at the Knights to be so misconstrued. Bennett made a number of mistakes but Newcastle went from a team that was struggling to make the numbers to one of the top teams in the NSW Cup. They finished minor premiers in Bennett's final season and would go one better the next year. The Knights NYC side went from an also-ran to minor premiers with some genuinely exciting talent.
I don't blame Knights fans for being upset with Bennett. He had an optional year in his contract but he chose to go in a different direction and in his own words 'sack himself'. However this talk about how he was hellbent on winning the premiership isn't true.
What he tried to do was build a culture at the club which is why a lot of his signings were former Knights players who had been involved with Newcastle during their last glory period. On top of that, he brought a few Dragons players with him to help guide them. The issue was he tried to do too much at once and fell for the trick a lot of premiership coaches do where they stick with players beyond their prime. Newcastle didn't need Jeremy Smith, they needed the next Jeremy Smith. There were other problems as well, it was highly rumoured that he was overruled on signing Kade Snowden to a big money deal so he had to be far more selective with his signings.
Nathan Brown was afforded a luxury very few coaches are. He was given three seasons to rebuild and while they eventually landed the signing of Kalyn Ponga which in turn brought over the likes of Mitchell Pearce, David Klemmer and Tyson Frizell the Knights haven't managed to win a finals game since Bennett. It remains to be seen whether they can amend that this season, but with their skipper on the sideline for a fair portion of the season and the whispers surrounding Ponga growing louder, it looks like the Knights woes are set to continue.
The narrative seems to be that Bennett and Tinkler left them in a mess and while that's true to an extent, I think it runs deeper than that. Time has seemingly forgotten that in 2005 Newcastle didn't win their first game until Round 16. While they were able to bounce back through Joey, they were no longer a force in the game and really hadn't been since 2002.
I think Hagan fell asleep at the wheel and let a lot of good talent fall between the cracks like Greg Inglis and his signings left so much to be desired. One of the reasons why Newcastle were so successful is that they had the best of both worlds and while they had some of the best players coming through their system they complimented them with promising players like Adam MacDougall, Ben Kennedy, Matt Parsons etc. You look at the signings that came later like Kirk Reynoldson, Dustin Cooper, Russell Richardson, Tim Maddison and it was just a far cry for what happened.
Brian Smith came into the club and he was brought into really change the culture of the club. The issue is that Smith made a lot of enemies at the club along the way and it fed the media machine. Smith constantly found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons, to the point where once he was offered the job at the Roosters he jumped at it.
Smith was a very talented coach who could identify things in players that other coaches would often overlook. He was fantastic at making some very astute signings and drafting up gameplans that highlighted weaknesses in the opposition. The problem was the Knights were still a work in progress when Smith left and things were about to get worse. Arguably his two best signings were Danny Wicks and Chris Houston, two very strong prospects from the St George Illawarra system and both of them were charged with drug related offences.
On top of that a lot of the Knights success came down to the form of Kurt Gidley who was so highly involved he performed the job of three players. I think fans forget just how good he was from 2007-09 before the weight of the New South Wales captaincy got to him and injuries started to pile up. He missed a fair portion of the Knights 2010 season and really struggled to find that form that form that made him one of the top players in the game.
Still, the Knights played above themselves and finished with an acceptable 10-14 record. The following year, they'd go 2 games better going 12-12 and qualifying for the finals. The problem was, that was their ceiling and a lot of players from that time period peaked then and there.
The concerning thing is that Newcastle really didn't have a lot of talent coming through. They couldn't afford to run a NSW Cup side, so they organised an affiliation with the Central Coast where they'd send their depth players so they could play some footy. Their U/20s, which was a competition they usually performed well in, struggled with their highest finish being 8th in 2011.
It's actually why I find the discussion surrounding Bennett and the long term future at the Knights to be so misconstrued. Bennett made a number of mistakes but Newcastle went from a team that was struggling to make the numbers to one of the top teams in the NSW Cup. They finished minor premiers in Bennett's final season and would go one better the next year. The Knights NYC side went from an also-ran to minor premiers with some genuinely exciting talent.
I don't blame Knights fans for being upset with Bennett. He had an optional year in his contract but he chose to go in a different direction and in his own words 'sack himself'. However this talk about how he was hellbent on winning the premiership isn't true.
What he tried to do was build a culture at the club which is why a lot of his signings were former Knights players who had been involved with Newcastle during their last glory period. On top of that, he brought a few Dragons players with him to help guide them. The issue was he tried to do too much at once and fell for the trick a lot of premiership coaches do where they stick with players beyond their prime. Newcastle didn't need Jeremy Smith, they needed the next Jeremy Smith. There were other problems as well, it was highly rumoured that he was overruled on signing Kade Snowden to a big money deal so he had to be far more selective with his signings.
Nathan Brown was afforded a luxury very few coaches are. He was given three seasons to rebuild and while they eventually landed the signing of Kalyn Ponga which in turn brought over the likes of Mitchell Pearce, David Klemmer and Tyson Frizell the Knights haven't managed to win a finals game since Bennett. It remains to be seen whether they can amend that this season, but with their skipper on the sideline for a fair portion of the season and the whispers surrounding Ponga growing louder, it looks like the Knights woes are set to continue.
