The difference between the Newcastle Knights, and the rest of the NRL, is lack of depth in high quality under 20's who can step up to fill the void if needed.
We don't have an Aiden Tolman or Dave Taylor stepping in for when Ben Cross or Dan Tolar goes down injured.
The Knights don't have a Josh Dugan or Jarrod Croker to step in for an rep duty Gidley or injured Mad Dog.
We don't have a Matt Prior or a Warea Hargraves coming through the NYC to take over from an injured Simmo or a depressed Patto.
We don't have an Alex Glenn coming off the bench instead of Wes Naiqama or Marvin Karawana.
We don't have a Keiran Foran or Daniel Mortimer stepping into the halves in lieu of Ben Rogers/Scott Dureau.
There's the kind of differences between the strength of squads from the Knights to the rest of the NRL. And its not changing in 2010.
What have players like Taylor, Tolman, Glenn, Prior and Croker got to do with the tail end of a squad's 25-player depth? They're in their teams' top 17.
OK, maybe it's disappointing that we didn't debut anyone exciting from our under 20s this year but that's a change of subject. It's easy to cherry pick one or two exciting youngsters from clubs here or there. Not many teams produce a clutch of them each and every season and these things go in cycles. Mata'Utai could be an exciting prospect next year, and, personally, I haven't given up on Aku either. You would have to admit we have at least had some nice young talent come through or been brought to the club by Smith over the past couple of years: Vuna, Sau, Patto, McManus (and a little older but still on the upward incline of their careers: Taia, Faas, De Gois, etc.).
Edit: Also, most of the clubs you've referenced--Broncos, Eagles, Storm, Raiders--have all coped far worse than us at the times when they've been struck by more than one or two injuries.