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LINKCut-price Knights on top
By James Hooper | April 06, 2008 12:00am
JESSE Royal was a basketballer who became a cook in the New Zealand army. Keith Lulia brokered a deal with Brian Smith at a truckstop.
Cameron Ciraldo bought a house in Cronulla only to be cut by the Sharks. Zeb Taia and Richie Fa'aoso were Parramatta lower-graders who had too much traffic in front of them.
Dan Tolar was the injury-riddled Charlestown local junior just waiting to go boom. Cooper Vuna wasn't getting a look-in at the Warriors. The Gold Coast told Mat Hilder he was free to find a new club.
These cut-price, fringe NRL players have found refuge in Newcastle. The men coach Brian Smith identified as being on the outer at rival clubs, then recruited and moulded into key personnel for the Knights.
"Cronulla told me there was a spot there for me and then they turned around and told me they'd spent all their money,'' Ciraldo said. "They sort of left me in the lurch after I'd bought a house just down the road.
"But it's worked out great. We've got our couple of superstars but otherwise everyone's just sort of working their way up at Newcastle. So there's no egos.''
Stuck behind Mark Gasnier and Matt Cooper at St George Illawarra, Dragons junior Lulia headed up the F3 with agent Steve Gillis to explore the opportunity at the Knights.
"We met Brian halfway. We were supposed to meet at McDonalds at this truck-stopping station but we ended up just going to like a diner there,'' Lulia said. "Brian really impressed me, so I pretty much agreed straight away and we did the deal to come to the Knights.''
The new-look Knights have emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the early part of this season. Knights football manager Warren Smiles praised Smith for his controversial cleanout last season.
"One of Brian's real strengths is he's very good at picking guys that might blossom given an opportunity and some one-on-one coaching.''