In Newcastle, its not about what you know, its about who you know.
The Newcastle Knights have been run for a very long time on the basis of just keeping everyone happy. Forget professionalism, forget winning, forget accountability….none of that matters. Just as long as everyone iust having a good time and they can all go to the pub.
Today we are seeing that sort mindset that is there for all to see in the attacking on the Newcastle Knights by a few high profile people in the area.
First we have Jack Newton, who was a very good golfer until he walked into a propeller blade and lost his arm. Newton has been filthy on the Knights for a number of season, and the reason came out again in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Newton has been angry about the fact that the Knights told his son, Clint Newton, that they didn’t want him any more.
See, the Knights had been run into the group by former coach Michael Hagan, and so they decided to make a move to sign Brian Smith, who has a record of turning around clubs that goes back over two decades.
Smith got to the Knights are saw he had a mess on his hands. So he started to try and change the culture of the club. He started to list training standards and even the standard of behaviour on and off the field.
The Knights took a while but they did start playing better under Smith. They make some really smart buys, brought through some good players, and Smith then started to focus on the dead wood the club had to get rid of.
Thats when all hell broke lose.
The prospect of mates losing their over priced jobs saw players and former players attack Smith very publicly. Smith wanted to release Kirk Reynoldson at the end of his contract….Kirk Reynoldson…..
The attacks on Smith become worse when he told Clint Newton that he was no longer wanted at the club. For a fringe first grader who never did anything of any note, Newton carried on like a complete fucking idiot. You can see that in him still at Hull KR, he is just an arsewipe.
Anyway he decided to leave the club with immediate effect and his Dad, Jack Newton, attacked Smith, attacked the Knights and vowed, he was done with the club forever.
So you see, Jack Newton has an axe to grind, and he still mentions Smith after a few years of Smith not even coaching at the Knights!
Then we have Andrew Johns…
Johns was very much a critic of the Knights when they dared to start trying to rid the club of his mates. Thats how it works in Newcastle.
Andrew Johns is a friend of Nathan Tinkler, and he would be almost assured of a very well paying job should Tinkler decide to actually pay money for the Newcastle Knights. He has attacked the Knights board from a surfing holiday in Fiji…
The like that is being pushed with this Tinkler bid is that “We will get our own back”. Basically, all the players Newcastle loses to other clubs, they will get those players back to Newcastle to play for the club again.
Whats not being said is that, many of the players they are saying they developed….they didnt!
Jamal Idris is still a young bloke who has been with the Bulldogs for years. For some reason, they think they developed him in Newcastle and they want him back. Idris isn’t from Newcastle!
Greg Birds name has been tossed up. I’ve watched Greg Birds entire first grade career because my cousin was a big fan of his since day one and said to me “He’ll play for Australia one day” when he was flat out playing first grade!
You could not look at the development of Greg Birds career, at the Sharks, and suggest that it had anything to do with Newcastle! He came there as an ok player, he left as an Origin and Test player. That was all the Sharks!
Kade Snowden, very similar story. Went to the Sharks young, a player of no note at all. He is now a State of Origin player.
Dane Tilse is another name mentioned by Johns. If he has forgotten, Dilse was sacked by the Knights for an off field incident!
Another of the Newcastle old boys network, and one of the most destructive people in the history of the Knights, Michael Hagan, has thrown in his two cents wroth as well.
What we are seeing is the Tinkler side trying to pull on a lot of long term issues in Newcastle to try and win the fans over. That means its imperative for Knights fans to look at both sides, look at the real details of the bid, and make their own minds up.
The Knights future isn’t about building a big wall around Newcastle, not letting anyone in or our, and thinking that is the key to success. In the NRL these days, the doors have to be open day and night. You have to be open to new things, new players, new tactics, outside help.
As a Panthers fan, we lose junior players to other clubs. You can’t keep all of them, its just something that happens these days. You have to accept it….that is the NRL. You can’t keep all of them!
The deal Tinkler put forward was a terrible one for the club. One that would cost him hardly any money at all, that would only kick in after the TV deal was done so it may actually not cost him any money at all, and once based on fear.
Take my deal, I’m from Newcastle. If you don’t do this, the club will die.
That is simply not the case. I’ve been the Knights biggest critic…..even I wouldn’t suggest they are anywhere near falling over!
Knights fan just want the best deal for their club. The Tinkler deal is about handing the club over to someone on the cheap, with few guarantees about the clubs future.
Its a bad deal. Knights fans needs to use their own heads, not listen to the PR from both sides, and make their own decisions.
