Havent we been here before?
Being 0-7 and having just two points from the bye in 2005 is rather difficult to digest for a team like the Newcastle Knights. They have been remarkably successful in producing home grown talent, highlighted by one Andrew Johns, around which their two premiership wins were built. But right at the moment they are struggling. Injuries have all but wrecked their season and even if the majority of players they have out do return, things still dont look any brighter. They lost many talented and long serving first grade players to retirement and other clubs in 2004. They did manage to secure the services of Reynoldson and Cooper but they hardly balance the ledger when compared with the loss of Tahu, Kennedy, Parsons, Ennis and ODavis. Having banked on their junior development for so long, have their management failed to look at what happened at two other clubs who gambled on the continued success of their junior base and, for a time, lost?
Parramatta were arguably the team of the eighties, winning 4 premierships in six seasons on the back of some remarkable junior talent in Sterling, Kenny, Ella and Grothe coupled with veterans in Price and Cronin. In 1986 the old heads in Cronin and Price had played enough and retired, leaving the now seasoned Sterling and Kenny to continue on. Over time as the rest of the Parramatta stars slowly succumbed to injury and retirement, the junior talent didnt progress as some had hoped. By the early nineties Parramatta could do no better than attract players past their used by date or players who at best were fringe first graders. There was no real incentive to join a club that languished towards the bottom of the ladder even with the likes of Kenny and Sterling at the club. It wasnt until 1997 that the Eels eventually returned to the finals.
Canberra enjoyed a similar success to that of Parramatta and also suffered a similar if not slower progression down the ladder. Daley, Stuart, and Clyde alongside some veterans in Meninga and Belcher were the core of a club that won back to back premierships. As players left either through retirement particularly Stuart and Clyde, the Canberra management banked on the junior talent coming through to fill the gaps. In 1999 they missed the finals for the first time since 1992. Even now they are feeling the affects. While successful in making the finals in 2003, they still struggle to attract top line players. This season they have been moderately successful and time will tell if they can make it back to the finals.
For a club that relies heavily on sponsorship to keep their season afloat they really had no other choice but to pay the big dollars to Johns. Some would argue the large salary was excessive and may have been better spent on other players as well as Johns. The players that they have been able to attract were in positions that were quite deep already. The youngsters that they have are quite talented; their Premier League side running high on the ladder, but rushing them into first grade with the high injury tolls may not help their careers long term. Buderus is off contract at the end of the season and has stalled talks until management confirm their intentions for 2006 and beyond. They have a number of veteran players off contract who it would appear unlikely will command the money they have become accustomed to, but will poor performances affect the Knights ability to be successful in the player market?
Playing with arguably the best player in the world may well be a carrot, however if his injury woes continue and someone like Buderus continues having second thoughts it may have an adverse effect. Add to that the inability of the Knights to attract a major sponsor and the players entering the market and may end up bypassing Newcastle as a potential club despite what money may be on offer.
While not wishing to see a club that has been among the best clubs over the past decade falter, unless the Knights management can remedy a few things off-field and performances on the field pick up, using what has occurred at Canberra and Parramatta as a guide, it could well be a couple of lean long years ahead for the Knights faithful.
43 days, to far away.
