KNIGHTS
A new look for Newcastle
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/your-club-in-2008/2008/03/07/1204780061528.html
March 8, 2008
WHO'S NEW: Danny Wicks, Chris Houston, Wes Naiqama, Keith Lulia (all Dragons), Richard Fa'aoso (Eels), Ben Cross (Storm), Matt Hilder (Titans), Cameron Ciraldo (Sharks), Sione Finefeuiaki (Sea Eagles).
WHO'S GONE: Adam Woolnough, Brad Tighe (both Panthers), Josh Perry (Sea Eagles), Kirk Reynoldson (Dragons), Kade Snowden (Sharks), Nathan Hinton (Newcastle Wests), David Seage (Wynnum Manly), Milton Thaiday (Central Charlestown), Riley Brown (Roosters), George Carmont (Wigan), Daniel Abraham (Mackay), Terence Seu Seu (contract torn up), Reegan Tanner (Central Coast Storm).
THE BIG QUESTION: It's not so much a big question as
the question: will all the pain and heartache, the ugly departures of favourite sons and radical changes to staff and roster be worth it? Well, were they, Brian Smith? The coach came to the Knights last season with a clear mandate to make change - and with an eye on the post-Andrew Johns era. Smith did so by effectively ushering out one team and building another from scratch. It caused a mini-riot in the Hunter but Smith is quietly confident with the added size and speed in his new-look team. We're about to see if he was right.
JOB SEEKERS: The famed Newcastle pack has lost its venom in recent seasons but they hope to off-set that with the signing of props Ben Cross from Melbourne and Dragon Danny Wicks. Cross was a machine for the Storm as they thundered towards the premiership last year. What he learnt at Melbourne can only benefit the Knights. Wicks has a point to prove. Dragons coach Nathan Brown fell out of love with him last season. Newcastle need the big fella to recapture his form of 2006.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Dragons recruit Wes Naiqama isn't the only Fijian expected to create headaches for rival defences. They've been quietly nudging 19-year-old winger Akuila Uate along for the past two seasons in junior ranks but this year the former Australian schoolboys flyer has the potential to leave his mark on the competition. After watching him in a match against the Bulldogs last year, former Knight Matthew Johns reckoned that he'd just seen a winger with greater potential than Lote Tuqiri. Uate has been prone to the odd brain explosion but the senior players have been impressed with his attitude to training.
REASONS TO BE EXCITED: Well, things could not possibly get any worse than last year. But we're told there is underlying feeling of optimism at the club, among the players and even those silent doomsayers behind the scenes who wondered if the bloodshed in the recruitment office was going to be worth it. The league chatterati insist Smith has six to eight games to prove he's made the right moves but that's a myth. The Knights don't have the cash to pay out his intricate contract, and he has the board's support.
REASONS TO BE WORRIED: An ankle injury to playmaker Luke Walsh means ball-playing back-rower Chris Bailey will line up alongside Jarrod Mullen in the halves early in the season.
Andrew Webster
