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Kurt Gidley has been a wonderful servant of the Newcastle Knights for the past 14 seasons.
Nobody can question his commitment to his club, his region and the game of rugby league itself. But for the past couple of seasons, his impact has been limited to say the least.
Gidley’s biggest strength is also his biggest weakness: versatility. He has always been the very definition of the phrase, ‘Jack of all trades, master of none.’ He was a good fullback, but never a game breaker. A decent half, but never a playmaker.
A dummy-half, but never a hooker.
For a while there, in 2009 and 2010, he looked like he might genuinely take the step up into the upper echelon of NRL stars. But it never happened.
And now, in 2014, he is a constant question mark. He was once the very picture of fitness, an unbreakable machine with a motor that never stopped running. But now he is broken, injured and unavailable more often than not. And positionally, he is still the master of none.
This is not meant in any way as an attack on Gidley – merely a nudge.
This is the dilemma. Take Gidley out of the Newcastle squad, and picking the Knights’ spine is relatively simple task (especially if Darius Boyd moves back to Brisbane as expected).
Electrifying young gun Sione Mata’utia is a superstar of the near future. Jarrod Mullen is finally starting to look like a real NRL five-eighth, with one of the best long-kicking games in the competition. Tyrone Roberts showed us exactly what he is capable of against premiers the Sydney Roosters two weeks ago. And Adam Clydsdale is a promising hooker forming good combinations with his halves.
Is it a perfect spine? No. But given time to really gel and form combinations, under a new coach, they could be the four to take Newcastle into the finals in the next year or two. So where does Gidley fit into the scenario?
Gidley is the ultimate clubman, and will always be the spiritual leader of the Knights while he is around the team. There is no doubt that the young players look up to him, and when he is not injured, he is still capable of NRL level play. But he no longer justifies his place in the starting side. Nor does he know where that place is.
My suggestion would be for Gidley to step back, in the best interests of the team. He may not feel ready for retirement, and he has earned the right to choose his own time to hang up the boots. 224 games for Newcastle, 12 games for NSW and 12 Tests for Australia are numbers to be proud of. But ‘step back’ does not mean retire, necessarily.
A number of Newcastle players are young – the Mata’utia brothers are 21 and 18, Roberts is 23, Jake Mamo is 20 – and Mullen can be fragile. Gidley should stay around for one more season, using his versatility to the advantage of the club.
He should play off the bench, covering the backline and hooker. Off field, he would mentor the future stars of the club. In 2016, he would join the coaching staff.
Most crucial, but also the most difficult, is removing Gidley as on-field captain. His being captain makes it much more difficult to justify him not being in the starting side. Jarrod Mullen should co-captain the side with a tough forward, probably Jeremy Smith or Beau Scott.
Kurt Gidley is a champion footballer, and a legend in Newcastle. But the time has come for the NRL’s Mr Versatile to really start thinking about his future, and the future of the club he loves.
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