It's the decade Newcastle fans are glad to see the back of.
Just two finals appearances [none since 2013] and three wooden spoons tell a damning story overall of the club's lack of success. But there were still some fine performers.
Here, we name our Knights' Team of the Decade.
FULLBACK:
Contenders: Darius Boyd, Kurt Gidley, Kalyn Ponga.
Winner - Kurt Gidley.
Impossible to go past Gidley, a Knights great who would feature in the club's best 17 of all time. Played 98 games during the decade, scoring 20 tries and kicking 218 goals at better than 80 percent. Boyd was one the side's best players in 2013 before offering very little in his final season in Newcastle. Outstanding young Ponga has it all in front of him.
WINGERS:
Contenders: Shaun Kenny-Dowall, James McManus, Nathan Ross, Akuila Uate.
Winners - Akuila Uate and James McManus.
Uate picks himself. The Fijian flyer was a match-winner who scored 118 of his 129 tries for the club during the decade. McManus was Mr Consistent who rarely put in a poor performance and earned NSW Blues Origin honours. Ross scored 23 tries in 60 appearances and was a real crowd-pleaser while Kenny-Dowall was good value over the past few seasons.
CENTRES:
Contenders: Dane Gagai, Peter Mata'utia, Sione Mata'utia, Adam MacDougall, Timana Tahu.
Winners - Dane Gagai and Sione Mata'utia.
Gagai played 129 games for the club between 2012 and 2017, scoring 29 tries and repped both Queensland and Australia from the Knights. Mata'utia has played some backrow in recent times but the bulk of his 112 games for the club have been in the centres. MacDougall and Tahu both had outstanding careers but were coming to the end during the decade after returning to the club. MacDougall was 35 and played 14 games in 2010 and just nine in his final season while Tahu played just seven games in his final two seasons in 2013 and 14.
FIVE-EIGHTH:
Contenders: Jarrod Mullen, Kurt Gidley, Tyrone Roberts.
Winner - Jarrod Mullen.
An obvious choice for one of the playmaker roles, Mullen was among the linchpins of the side for a big part of the decade until his career ended in controversy before the start of the 2017 season. He played 132 of his 211 games for the club from the start of the 2010 season. Gidley played numerous games in the halves when Boyd was at the club but was far more at home at fullback. Roberts was more a halfback than a number six.
HALFBACK:
Contenders: Trent Hodkinson, Mitchell Pearce, Tyrone Roberts.
Winner - Mitchell Pearce.
The experienced Pearce has only been at the club for the past two seasons but has been at the peak of his powers and easily the Knights best and most influential halfback since Andrew Johns. Roberts played 97 NRL games for the Knights between 2011 and 2015 and had some fine performances without ever being the dominant playmaker the club craved. Hodkinson arrived as the incumbent NSW halfback at the start of Nathan Brown's re-build but struggled with knee issues and didn't possess the attacking skill-set to compensate for the inexperienced squad around him.
PROPS:
Contenders: Ben Cross, David Klemmer, Willie Mason, Daniel Saifiti, Kade Snowden.
Winners: David Klemmer and Kade Snowden.
Klemmer's selection will raise some eye-brows, given he only played the final year of the decade but he was outstanding last season and did enough in those 21 games to get the nod in the starting side. Snowden led the charge up front for the Knights for four seasons before injury ended his career. Mason made an impact in the 60 games he played at the club under Wayne Bennett despite being on the wrong side of 30 and approaching the end of his career. Saifiti 23, has it all in front of him after his Blues selection last season while Cross arrived at the Knights in 2008 with his best footy behind him.
HOOKER:
Contenders: Danny Buderus, Isaac De Gois, Danny Levi.
Winner: Danny Buderus.
Brought back to the club from the Leeds Rhinos in England by Bennett in 2012, club great Buderus was highly influential during the final two seasons of his career, playing 37 games and was the inspiration behind the club's run to the 2013 grandfinal qualifier. De Gois was a whole-hearted performer during his 63-game, three-season stint at the club from 2011 while Levi has had his moments but has battled to cement the role despite playing 83 NRL games so far.
SECOND ROWERS:
Contenders: Mitch Barnett, Chris Houston, Robbie Rochow, Beau Scott, Steve Simpson.
Winners: Beau Scott and Mitch Barnett.
Scott picks himself. As tough as boot leather with the ability to intimidate with his physical and mental presence and was a real leader of the pack during his three season stint at the club that started in 2013 under Bennett. Barnett's best footy should be in front of him but he is the only dual winner of the Danny Buderus Medal for player of the year which gets him the nod as Scott's backrow partner in the starting side, just ahead of Houston, who scored 27 tries in 160 games for the club. Rochow's five seasons at the club were hampered by injury. Simpson, the champion player that he was, played just eight games in 2010 before retirement so misses this team as a result.
LOCK:
Contenders: Jeremy Smith, Zeb Taia.
Winner: Jeremy Smith.
Along with Scott, Smith put the steel in the Knights pack during his four seasons at the club and was highly enough regarded as a leader to be handed the joint captaincy in his final year at the Knights in 2016 by coach Nathan Brown. Taia was brought to the club by coach Brian Smith in 2007 with the skilful backrower/lock finishing up at the club at the end of 2012.
BENCH:
Kalyn Ponga, Willie Mason, Daniel Saifiti, Chris Houston.
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