IT is a question guaranteed to spark debate in every pub, lunch room and school playground – who are the most influential figures in the Newcastle Knights’ history?
Now the Novocastrian faithful can have their say, by helping to choose the inaugural intake of legends for the club’s Hall of Fame.
Votes from fans will be used to select an initial 25 contenders, which a panel of experts will reduce to 10 before determining the first four champions inducted into the Hall of Fame.
To vote for the inaugural inductees into the Newcastle Knights Hall of Fame, click here.
And just to increase the challenge, coaches as well as players are eligible for selection.
Two of the inductees appear a virtual fait accompli.
Paul Harragon and Andrew Johns not only skippered the Knights to premiership victories in 1997 and 2001 respectively but were representative regulars who captained their country.
In the case of Johns, however, off-field scandals blotted his illustrious career.
But if his indiscretions were overlooked when the rugby league Team of the Century was announced in 2008, it is hard to imagine any similar concerns precluding him from his home-town club’s greatest recognition.
After ‘‘Joey’’ and the ‘‘Chief’’, who comes next?
Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley, who have both led their club and state, would appear to boast overwhelming credentials.
But both will need to wait until they have hung up their boots to be considered.
Instead fans must take a stroll down Memory Lane to determine their club’s greatest servants.
And there are countless worthy candidates.
How could anyone go past Mark Sargent, the first Knight to tour with the Kangaroos and the only Newcastle player to have won the prestigious Rothmans Medal?
Or Michael Hagan, who captained Newcastle in their first finals series (1992) and nine years later coached the Knights to a grand final triumph in his first season with the clipboard?
Fans from Newcastle’s foundation years will always feel indebted to the contributions of inaugural coach Allan McMahon and captain Sam Stewart, who played integral roles in creating a club that has become the heart and soul of its community.
Over the past quarter-century, 229 players have worn the blue and red in first-grade competition.
There have also been seven coaches.
Obviously not all will come into calculations.
But names like Matthew Johns, Steve Simpson, Adam MacDougall, Ben Kennedy, Robbie O’Davis, Matthew Gidley, Tony Butterfield, Adam Muir and Malcolm Reilly are certain to feature prominently in discussions.
Somehow fans have to limit themselves to 10 votes, and the selection panel will whittle that down to a short-list of four.
It shapes as an intriguing exercise for all involved and a likely highlight of a season which may yet provide Knights fans with further cause for celebration.
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