It’s a hard fact to ignore – the Newcastle Knights are the worst team in NRL history.
In the past three years they have won just 11, yes 11, out of their past 66 games. They won the wooden spoon in 2015, won it again in 2016 and on track for another bottom-place finish in 2017. So far this year they’ve won only two of their 18 games. On Friday they notched their 16th loss of this season when they fell 28-4 to the Roosters.
For a club that has won two premierships since they were founded in 1988, that represents a rugby league heartland, these are dark days for Newcastle.
The roots of their destruction lie in the tumultuous three-year takeover of the club by controversial mining magnate Nathan Tinkler. Tinkler talked a good game but didn’t deliver, his big spending spree burning out quickly once his debts were called in. Under his ownership the Knights snared ‘supercoach’ Wayne Bennett and spent up big on veteran star players. It was a plan of to hell with the future, focus on the now.
The plan and their risky recruitment led the Knights to a 12th place finish, a seventh place finish and preliminary final appearance, and a 12th place finish. No silverware. Bennett took the cash and ran at the end of 2014, after Tinkler had already departed. It was left to Rick Stone first, then to Nathan Brown from the start of 2016, to pick up the pieces.
Of that 2013 Knights side that was beaten by the Roosters in the preliminary final, on their way to winning the grand final, only one player is left at the club today – Dane Gagai.
Darius Boyd fled to Brisbane with Bennett, Joseph Leilua left for Canberra, Akuila Uate is rebuilding his career at Manly, Jarrod Mullen copped a four-year drugs ban, Tyrone Roberts is playing for Gold Coast, Robbie Rochow is with Melbourne, Beau Scott is with Parramatta, Chris Houston with Super League side Widnes and Alex McKinnon forced from the game after a terrible injury.
The rest – Wes Naiqama, David Fa’alogo, Danny Buderus, Willie Mason, Jeremy Smith, Matt Hilder and Neville Costigan have all retired from the NRL. Tinkler and Bennett put all their eggs in one basket, with no future planning, and it failed badly.
Since then Newcastle have gone on a massive recruitment spree, trying to create salary cap room by blooding youngsters, bringing in new players and letting many others go. There have been few successes and a lot of failures. Gagai – the Knights’ best player is off to South Sydney. The recruitment of Trent Hodkinson has been a bust. Korbin and Tariq Sims both left and are playing well at new clubs. Uate is killing it with the Sea Eagles. Newcastle have missed out on high-profile targets such as Matt Scott and Jack Bird.
2017 recruits Jamie Buhrer and Roy Kostjasyn have been hit by injury. Brown has been unable to rebuild this ailing side or motivate a squad scarred by constant failure. Newcastle cannot simply get over the line. The effort is there, they try hard but their second half performances are dismal. Club chairman Brian McGuigan voiced his displeasure at his coach after a loss to the Wests Tigers.
“After a period of grace, unless things are improving, we have to do something about it … if things are out of control, then the board has to make decisions about the direction we’re taking,’’ McGuigan said on July 3.
“The man that's got to carry the can ... it’s just not good enough. The community expects better. Yesterday I lost faith, and I’m now expressing it openly and frankly, because the community expects more of us. This is my opinion, and I’m only one member of the board, but we cannot go into the next season as disorganised as we are at the moment.”
There’s no denying that Brown was given a bum hand when he joined the Knights. He has had to do the grunt work. But his record stands at three wins, one daw and 38 defeats from 42 matches. That’s a win percentage of 7%.
With few signs of major improvement, it leaves you wondering if the 43-year old really is the right man for the job. Newcastle cannot be in a rebuilding phase forever. Look at Canberra and Manly. Is it time for Brown to depart, or does he deserve more time to turn this ailing club around?
