Nuffy
Bench
- Messages
- 4,075
Round 17 Edition: Big League
Injury Knightmare
As glorious as their 2001 upset grand final victory over Parramatta was for Newcastle, it heralded the start of the worst injury run for a club in NRL history. Story by Ben Everill.
Here are the statistics that confirm the Knightmare. Newcastle have not had their number one team on the paddock since their 30-24 grand final win over Parramatta in 2001.
After celebrating their first win in 294 days with a 280-24 win over Penrith last Saturday night, Big League can reveal the Knights have suffered the worst injury run in the NRL history. While all clubs suffer injuries, it is the quality of players missing that has stung the Newcastle team, with three or more 'marquee' players missing from 75 percent of their games since their NRL triumph.
"If that's the price you pay for winning a competition, then I think we've more than paid our due," Knights coach Michael Hagan said sarcastically. "It's been quite unbelievable since that time. In my 20 years in the game I can't recall a run like this."
Bulldogs strength and conditioning coordinator Scott Campbell, who was with the Knights in 2001, admits the Knights' toll has been well above what would be considered average. And he records such events in great detail.
"A good year is if you average about 10 percent of your top roster unavailable each week, so that's 2.5 players a week," Campbell says.
Considering the statistics this story has collated only relate to marquee players and doesn't include the likes of Todd Lowrie, David Seage and Adam Woolnough, the Knights are well above the average.
The Knights have had 100 'injured player games' this season already, which means they average over seven players missing each game. To put that in perspective, the Bulldogs won last year's premiership with an average of just 1.78 injured player games and the worst Campbell has recorded in over 10 years in the game is 5.2 for the South Queensland Crushers in 1996.
Plenty has already been said about the Knights' financial woes, a problem that sees them without a fulltime physiotherapist or masseuse - making recovery and injury prevention more difficult. But these management issues have been supplemented by some horrific luck, particularly over the last two seasons.
"The stats just confirm and accentuate what we've known and shows why it's been tough," Hagan continues.
Breaking down the stats even further, it becomes apparent the Knights' number one halves pairing and hooker has played just one game together in the past 35 matches. Andrew Johns, Kurt Gidley and Danny Buderus haven't been able to consolidate what should be a damaging combination for the Novocastrians.
The only time they all lined up since round three, 2004 was in round six this year against the Warriors, when the Knights fielded their strongest unit for a while, missing only Mark Hughes and Josh Perry from their nucleus. But after setting up what seemed to be a match-winning lead, Daniel Abraham broke his leg and Johns ended up with a busted jaw, while Todd Lowrie (kidney) and Dustin Cooper (groin) also went down, which helped the Warriors storm home to victory.
"Your halves and hooker run your football team and you'd like to think you'd get eight or 10 or more games in a year with those guys, who are your nucleus running the team," Hagan says. "I can't recall having the 17 we named train all week and then play and I can't recall having the same squad two weeks in a row. It's also been a very long time since we've finished a game with 17 fit players."
With injuries like a broken leg, broken jaw, ruptured kidneys, ruptured testicles, torn hip capsule and torn tear duct, there is certainly an element of bad luck, but inadequate injury management can also be blamed. Gidley has had several quadriceps problems, something that may have been lessened with further treatment.
In the 98 games since that premiership triumph, the Newcastle Knights have only come close to fielding their best side on eight occasions, the last time being in round one, 2004. They started that season with their top 10 players on deck except for former NSW Blues fullback Mark Hughes, but within three weeks they were also missing Johns, Steve Simpson, Timana Tahu and Robbie O'Davis.
It remains to be seen if a turn of luck plus an improvement in injury management resources can help arrest this awful trend and whether it will give the Knights their first wooden spoon in their 18-year history.
Casualty Ward
Games missed by Newcastle's marquee players since the 2001 grand final.
Current Players
Played
Missed
% Absent
Kirk Reynoldson
7
7
50 %
Andrew Johns
48
41
46%
Mark Hughes
48
41
46%
Steve Simpson
57
32
36%
Daniel Abraham
64
25
28%
Josh Perry
69
20
22%
Danny Buderus
70
19
21%
Kurt Gidley
50
13
21%
Matthew Gidley
78
11
12%
2002-2004
Adam MacDougall
13
38
75%
Ben Kennedy
40
35
47%
Timana Tahu
43
32
43%
Robbie O'Davis
47
28
37%
Story from Big League
THE ADMIN SHOULD BE RECRUITING THE NECESSARY STAFF BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON - DO WE NEED ANY MORE EVIDENCE.
Injury Knightmare
As glorious as their 2001 upset grand final victory over Parramatta was for Newcastle, it heralded the start of the worst injury run for a club in NRL history. Story by Ben Everill.
Here are the statistics that confirm the Knightmare. Newcastle have not had their number one team on the paddock since their 30-24 grand final win over Parramatta in 2001.
After celebrating their first win in 294 days with a 280-24 win over Penrith last Saturday night, Big League can reveal the Knights have suffered the worst injury run in the NRL history. While all clubs suffer injuries, it is the quality of players missing that has stung the Newcastle team, with three or more 'marquee' players missing from 75 percent of their games since their NRL triumph.
"If that's the price you pay for winning a competition, then I think we've more than paid our due," Knights coach Michael Hagan said sarcastically. "It's been quite unbelievable since that time. In my 20 years in the game I can't recall a run like this."
Bulldogs strength and conditioning coordinator Scott Campbell, who was with the Knights in 2001, admits the Knights' toll has been well above what would be considered average. And he records such events in great detail.
"A good year is if you average about 10 percent of your top roster unavailable each week, so that's 2.5 players a week," Campbell says.
Considering the statistics this story has collated only relate to marquee players and doesn't include the likes of Todd Lowrie, David Seage and Adam Woolnough, the Knights are well above the average.
The Knights have had 100 'injured player games' this season already, which means they average over seven players missing each game. To put that in perspective, the Bulldogs won last year's premiership with an average of just 1.78 injured player games and the worst Campbell has recorded in over 10 years in the game is 5.2 for the South Queensland Crushers in 1996.
Plenty has already been said about the Knights' financial woes, a problem that sees them without a fulltime physiotherapist or masseuse - making recovery and injury prevention more difficult. But these management issues have been supplemented by some horrific luck, particularly over the last two seasons.
"The stats just confirm and accentuate what we've known and shows why it's been tough," Hagan continues.
Breaking down the stats even further, it becomes apparent the Knights' number one halves pairing and hooker has played just one game together in the past 35 matches. Andrew Johns, Kurt Gidley and Danny Buderus haven't been able to consolidate what should be a damaging combination for the Novocastrians.
The only time they all lined up since round three, 2004 was in round six this year against the Warriors, when the Knights fielded their strongest unit for a while, missing only Mark Hughes and Josh Perry from their nucleus. But after setting up what seemed to be a match-winning lead, Daniel Abraham broke his leg and Johns ended up with a busted jaw, while Todd Lowrie (kidney) and Dustin Cooper (groin) also went down, which helped the Warriors storm home to victory.
"Your halves and hooker run your football team and you'd like to think you'd get eight or 10 or more games in a year with those guys, who are your nucleus running the team," Hagan says. "I can't recall having the 17 we named train all week and then play and I can't recall having the same squad two weeks in a row. It's also been a very long time since we've finished a game with 17 fit players."
With injuries like a broken leg, broken jaw, ruptured kidneys, ruptured testicles, torn hip capsule and torn tear duct, there is certainly an element of bad luck, but inadequate injury management can also be blamed. Gidley has had several quadriceps problems, something that may have been lessened with further treatment.
In the 98 games since that premiership triumph, the Newcastle Knights have only come close to fielding their best side on eight occasions, the last time being in round one, 2004. They started that season with their top 10 players on deck except for former NSW Blues fullback Mark Hughes, but within three weeks they were also missing Johns, Steve Simpson, Timana Tahu and Robbie O'Davis.
It remains to be seen if a turn of luck plus an improvement in injury management resources can help arrest this awful trend and whether it will give the Knights their first wooden spoon in their 18-year history.
Casualty Ward
Games missed by Newcastle's marquee players since the 2001 grand final.
Current Players
Played
Missed
% Absent
Kirk Reynoldson
7
7
50 %
Andrew Johns
48
41
46%
Mark Hughes
48
41
46%
Steve Simpson
57
32
36%
Daniel Abraham
64
25
28%
Josh Perry
69
20
22%
Danny Buderus
70
19
21%
Kurt Gidley
50
13
21%
Matthew Gidley
78
11
12%
2002-2004
Adam MacDougall
13
38
75%
Ben Kennedy
40
35
47%
Timana Tahu
43
32
43%
Robbie O'Davis
47
28
37%
Story from Big League
THE ADMIN SHOULD BE RECRUITING THE NECESSARY STAFF BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON - DO WE NEED ANY MORE EVIDENCE.
