AS Brian Smith set about rebuilding a team in his own image, behind the scenes the Newcastle Knights were bleeding financially. Since their foundation season, Newcastle had perpetually existed, in the words of former chairman Michael Hill, "on the smell of an oily rag".
Without leagues club support for their first decade, the Knights opened their own, modest licensed premises in Adamstown in 1999, but 18 months later it was written off after incurring debts of about $1 million. At various times, loans from the NRL, Newcastle Jockey Club and defunct Gold Coast Chargers were required simply to help pay players.
By 2006, it was assumed such issues had been resolved. As well as securing up to $1 million a year from an underwriting deal with Wests Leagues, the Knights, after a well-attended season, posted an annual profit of $813,255. All seemed good. Just 12 months later, however, alarm bells were ringing.
The chairman who had secured the funding from Wests, Mike Tyler, had been ousted in a coup that left former Marist Brother clergyman and Catholic high school teacher Peter Corcoran in charge of the Knights board. During Corcoran's first year in the hot seat, the Knights suffered a $1.2 million loss, and the $2 million turnaround infuriated Wests so much that a bitter dispute ignited over who was liable for what.
Against this backdrop, two notable events unfolded. Firstly, former Knights foundation player Rob Tew ran for election to the board and was installed as chairman, although Corcoran chose to stay on as a director.
Secondly, the Knights made contact with a young self-made multimillionaire from the Hunter Valley named Nathan Tinkler. Tinkler, who had hit the jackpot through mining investments, attracted the club's attention after a $60 million spending spree on racehorses. When Tinkler then bought Andrew Johns' house at Merewether for a reported $4 million, apparently as a "weekender", Knights CEO Steve Burraston asked if he was interested in becoming involved as a sponsor. Soon the Knights were wearing "Patinack Farm" signage on the back of their jerseys, advertising Tinkler's Sandy Hollow horse stud.
Rumours surfaced that Tinkler, worth a reported $275 million, was interested in privatising the Knights, although Burraston insisted: "It hasn't been discussed." Before long, however the Knights were facing further financial pressure and Tinkler secretly agreed to loan the club $500,000, interest free, to be repaid when they were able. Both parties, surely, had an inkling of where this might eventually lead.
Meanwhile, coach Smith and his new-look team wasted no time in putting their best feet forward. After opening the season with a 30-14 win at home to Canberra, in round two they pipped Manly 13-12 in a "golden point" victory. The post-match talking point was the running battle involving Knights prop Danny Wicks and his opposite number, Josh Perry, playing his second game for Manly after 142 appearances in the red and blue.
"We'd been giving each other curry all game," Wicks revealed afterwards, having apparently ignored Smith's instruction to avoid sledging Perry. "We were like two bulls going at each other ... that last scrum he called me 'fatso', and I said: "Look who's talking.' It's a bit of fun." Perry didn't see the funny side of it. He lost his cool, head-butted Wicks, and conceded a game-turning penalty. So much for a happy homecoming.
At the halfway point in their season, Newcastle were six and six, the highlight being a 34-20 win against the Roosters in Gosford, sealed with a memorable try by the heavyweight Wicks, who burst through from dummy-half and raced 60 metres to score.
"There was always a rumour Danny Wicks had this super speed," Roosters coach Brad Fittler said afterwards. "They said he was the fastest in Newcastle over 40 metres, well now he's the fastest in Newcastle and at the Roosters." Fittler's counterpart was more circumspect. "He did what we know he's capable of," Smith said. "I'd like to think that's a bit of a benchmark he can find more often."
A round-24 win against North Queensland (38-24) lifted Newcastle to eighth, within touching distance of a finals berth, but it came at a terrible cost. Just minutes from full-time, the inspirational Buderus fired out a pass from dummy-half, just as he had done thousands of times in his career.
This time he felt a strange "pop" in his upper arm. He had ruptured his biceps, an injury that would require surgery and a six-month recovery period. The 30-year-old NSW Origin skipper had already signed to join Leeds Rhinos, so his 11-season, 222-game stint with the Knights was over.
"It's a pretty sombre dressing room in there right now. The game can be very cruel," coach Smith told the media. "Not too many people get to go out on their own terms in this sport ... he'd like to go out with his boots on, I'm sure."
It's a pretty sombre dressing room in there right now. The game can be very cruel.
BRIAN SMITH
Seven days later, after a mid-week testimonial lunch attended by a host of his representative teammates from far and wide along with his childhood hero, Wally Lewis, Buderus did a lap of the ground before Newcastle's penultimate-round clash with Melbourne, his arm in a sling. "I'll be back here some day looking to give a little bit back to the club," he promised the crowd.
The champion hooker had actually pondered leaving the Knights 12 months earlier, when emotions were running high over the Kirk Reynoldson impasse. Smith and Buderus maintained a professional relationship but, when the opportunity arose, the coach made no attempt to talk his skipper out of moving to England, even though he was still considered good enough to lead NSW during the Origin series.
Discussing his move to Leeds, Buderus said: "It's been one of my toughest decisions, leaving the club that I love and I've been brought up playing for and played all my career here. Obviously I've stewed over it, but if I don't go now, I'll probably never go ... it's just the right thing and the right time for me to move. It's been one of my ambitions and I've got a few goals to achieve over there in Super League."
In the unexpectedly early absence of their inspirational dummy-half, Newcastle had two must-win games remaining to reach the play-offs. Courageously they beat defending premiers Melbourne 17-16, after a decisive field goal from new skipper Kurt Gidley. Then a 24-2 defeat by Brisbane left them ninth, after 12 wins and 12 losses, two points adrift of the top eight.
Along the way, Newcastle improved their for-and-against statistics by a remarkable 320 points on 2007, and Smith blooded some promising rookies, including winger Akuila Uate and centre Junior Sa'u, who each made try-scoring debuts.
Uate, born on Fiji's Coral Coast, moved to the Central Coast as a teenager and was nurtured in Newcastle's junior system. He was tipped by Andrew Johns to emulate his superstar Fijian countryman, Lote Tuqiri, before he had even played a game of first grade.
Sa'u, from Auckland, via Brisbane and Canberra, was signed on spec but impressed Smith in the pre-season. "He's got Johnny Sattler's thighs and Reg Gasnier's pace," the coach said. Sa'u had to wait until halfway into the season for his chance to live up to that rap but marked the occasion by scoring a double in a 22-12 win against Canterbury. Smith then dropped him for the next two games.
The majority of his no-frills imports provided value for money, in particular towering forward Chris Houston, who did not miss a game. Zeb Taia, Richie Fa'aoso and Danny Wicks also established themselves as regulars.
Buderus, Simpson, Gidley and rugged prop Ben Cross represented NSW, while Gidley played in the mid-season Test against New Zealand and was also included in Australia's World Cup squad, alongside former teammate Josh Perry.
Perry described himself as "the luckiest man in the world" after featuring in Manly's 40-0 grand final win against Melbourne, just 12 months after the Knights had shown no interest in re-signing him.
"This is an awesome feeling," he told the Newcastle Herald. "This one I've had to work a lot harder for. In 2001, it was my first year and I thought it was going to happen all the time. I don't know if it means more, but I appreciate it a lot more."
Perry's renaissance left many querying the wisdom of releasing him. Nonetheless, the consensus of opinion was that Smith had his team heading in the right direction, and that the Knights would be even better in 2009.
Hard Yards: The Story of the Newcastle Knights. Available to purchase from theherald.mybigcommerce.com/books/ $19.95
