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The ugly contradiction in Newcastle's fairy tale

12th December, 2017
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Brock Lamb and Luke Yates of the Knights. (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
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12th December, 2017
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Who doesn’t love a fairy tale? The heroes, the villains and everything in between make for a great read. Well, rugby league’s next fairy tale had long been anointed: the Newcastle Knights.

The team failed under dreamy private ownership, then spent the next four years in the doldrums, with poor management and even poorer performances… Only to rise again on the back of star locals, playing in front of colloquial crowds, and achieving the ultimate success.

Great story and sure to be a great read.

However, over this offseason, the narrative has altered.

Suddenly, with a surplus of money and an eye for a bargain or recycled player, the Knights are a good team with dreams of making the eight in 2018.

What about the team full of local juniors? Where did that team go?

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Rather than being full of Hunter products, their likely team for Round 1 next year – as estimated by those in the know – is very different, the majority having been bought from out of town.

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Granted, in Kalyn Ponga and Connor Watson they may have obtained potential superstars of the future, but how do you sell that to those juniors who now can’t get a game?

What do you say to Lachlan Fitzgibbon, who may lose his spot to a 30-year-old journeyman? How do you keep a young prop enthused and committed when he’s just lost his spot to a bloke aged 35?

How do you convince halves Brock Lamb and Jack Cogger that fewer opportunities at the top level will actually improve their abilities and not diminish them?

This is now no longer a team of local juniors, it is one balanced by players either on their last legs or collecting their final paycheques.

The heroes in this fairy tale have changed… Will the ending change too?

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