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Hey Wayne, Newcastle regrets you too

26th October, 2018
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Roar Guru
26th October, 2018
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After being told he was unwelcome from 2019 onwards at Brisbane, Wayne Bennett is on the move again.

Bennett and Anthony Seibold have successfully made a trade for Wayne to come down to Redfern and Anthony to return the favour at Red Hill. However, Wayne has said he still regrets to this day his decision to sign with Newcastle in 2012 and not South Sydney.

Hey Wayne, we regret you too.

I won’t take anything away from him. He built the Broncos from the ground up right from their debut season and in his first run as their coach. He had a 100 per cent track record to get them in the finals. He racked up premierships from six grand final appearances, very impressive.

He then won a grand final in his second year with Dragons in 2010. However, most of that team was built by Nathan Brown. From 2012-2014, Wayne Bennett took over the Newcastle Knights and promised them success.

Sure Nathan Tinkler did hire Wayne for instant success but before Wayne got the job, the Knights weren’t in the best shape. Sadly Wayne made things worse for us on and off the field. He told many juniors to pack up and leave, wrote off Nathan Ross and hired a bunch of has beens looking for a fast buck.

The worst thing for me is he took the team from the community, that’s an absolute dishonour. The only player I can thank him for is Danny Buderus, because he wanted to come back to Newcastle.

When Wayne Bennett left I was absolutely thrilled. Why? Because the Knights could bounce back and undo the damage.

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How wrong was I? The history books say it all. In 2015, after a promising start winning our first four of the year, we only won four of the next 20 and got the spoon – the first of three on the trot.

I have got a lot of respect for Rick Stone, he tried his best to rebuild the Knights but sadly, he wasn’t able to get far. After all, he only had a pair of sevens against the royal flush.

In 2016, in comes Nathan Brown. Once again I was absolutely thrilled. Did he make any bogus promises? No. Did he tell us we’ll be an instant success? No. Did he actually think with his big head instead of his little one? Unlike Wayne, absolutely!

When he arrived he immediately laid the platform and said we will get the wooden spoon in 2016. I wished he wasn’t right but sadly he was. In 2016 and 2017, we only won six of 48 games and added another two spoons to the collection.

Nathan Brown Newcastle Knights

Knights coach Nathan Brown. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

In 2018 and despite missing the finals, I personally believe it’s the Knights’ best season since Andrew Johns retired. The team gave more to the community then ever and we gave it right back. This may be wishful thinking but I’m calling 2021 to be our year.

I don’t condone the actions of Wayne Bennett, Nathan Tinkler and the previous board one bit. However, it made us supporters stronger than ever and we stood for our team when just about all was lost.

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For the Knights, whether the players, staff or supporters, we’re not a community, we’re a family. I do hereby declare myself as the biggest supporter of the Newcastle Knights – but I don’t hold that title alone.

Who else holds it? Every single supporter of the Knights who wears the Knights jersey, bleeds the same colours (some like me have it proudly inked as well) and never gives up.

So now we have the off season for our next step and in 140 days (20 weeks) we have our first match of the season against the Sharks. I’m looking forward to it. Sure the Sharks have a streak against us but all streaks are made to be broken, just ask the Undertaker.

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