HE made his first-grade debut, and helped win the 2001 grand final, wearing red-and-blue vertical stripes.
But Knights legend Danny Buderus has a secret: he always preferred the kit Newcastle wore in their inaugural seasons.
"I just loved those Henny Penny jerseys," Buderus said.
"The vertical stripes are obviously special to me as well, but as a kid I grew up watching the Knights wearing those Henny Penny jerseys so I suppose that's always been my favourite."
With that in mind, it's no surprise Buderus has given his stamp of approval to Newcastle's newly released jumpers for the 2022 season.
The home strip still largely resembles the 1988 original version, except that the traditional horizontal stripes - where the red shoulders and chest merge with the blue midriff - have been replaced by a chevron.
The alternate version, as usual, is predominantly white with blue and red in the chevron.
"I guess the jerseys have to evolve over the years, but I reckon these ones look great," Buderus, Newcastle's football manager and former captain, said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how the full kit looks, with shorts and socks, and hopefully seeing them en masse when we play at McDonald Jones Stadium."
Buderus said the new strips, designed by O'Neill's Sportswear, are far removed from the baggy, cotton jumpers that were de rigueur when he debuted in 1997.
"It's amazing how they look and feel nowadays," Buderus said. "It's lightweight, performance-based. They've come a long way since back in my day."
Co-captain Jayden Brailey was the first Newcastle player to try on the new jerseys during the photo shoot with Buderus earlier this week.
After a knee reconstruction wrote off his debut season with Newcastle, the former Cronulla hooker made 23 appearances this year and was a model of consistency.
Buderus, an assistant coach on Brad Fittler's NSW Origin staff, is a huge fan of Brailey's.
"If you were building a protoype of what you want for an Origin hooker, you wouldn't go much different to the physique and mindset of Jayden Brailey," Buderus said.
"I'm sure down the track he'll be well and truly putting his hand up."
