KNIGHTS skipper Kurt Gidley feels like a kid before Christmas.
After surgery on his ankle and knee, followed by a gruelling summer preparation under new coach Wayne Bennett, Gidley can hardly believe it is only one more sleep until his first game of 2012, when Newcastle tackle Penrith in a trial match against Port Macquarie tomorrow night.
Have you voted for your top 10 nominees to the Newcastle Knights Hall of Fame? Click here to have your say.
A veteran of 12 pre-seasons, Gidley said he could not remember feeling as excited heading into a new campaign. ‘‘No, I can’t,’’ he said.
‘‘Just with the playing roster and the good signings we’ve made, it’s a great squad we’ve got and it’s exciting times for me and the players who have been with the club for a while now.
‘‘With the new players, and a couple of the old ones who’ve come back, and the facilities we’ve got, it’s a great time to be a Knights player, that’s for sure.’’
The Knights took a 27-man squad to Port Macquarie yesterday, including six new recruits: returning Newcastle stars Danny Buderus, Kade Snowden and Timana Tahu and ex-Dragons Darius Boyd, Adam Cuthbertson and Alex McKinnon, who have followed Bennett up the F3.
Gidley was unsure how long it would take for the Knights to gel as a unit.
‘‘We’ve been working pretty hard on our combinations to get them down pat at training,’’ he said. ‘‘I guess that’s what trial games are for.
‘‘We’ll be trying to iron out anything we need to work on.
‘‘Having a run under our belt this week, we’ll be able to look over the video next week and pick out any areas that we need to improve on.’’
After playing mainly as fullback for the past five years, Gidley will specialise as a five-eighth this year to accommodate Boyd, the incumbent Test custodian.
Having been pivot outside Andrew Johns during the formative years of his career, the 29-year-old had no qualms about reprising his old role.
‘‘I’ve been training as five-eighth whenever we do skills for the whole off-season,’’ he said. ‘‘Obviously I was speaking to Wayne before he came and he told me that’s where he wanted me to play.
‘‘That was all good. I knew where I’d be playing and what I needed to focus on, and me and Jarrod [Mullen] have been working together in the halves.’’
Gidley was confident the surgeries he underwent in the off-season, which ruled him out of last year’s Four Nations tour of England, would provide long-term benefits.
‘‘I had arthroscopes on my knee and my ankle and I’m really happy with how they’ve come along after it,’’ he said.
‘‘My knee was the biggest problem, just training-wise last year, but it’s a lot better.
‘‘It still pulls up a little bit sore, which is a given, but while I’m training there has been no problem with it.’’
He said Newcastle’s squad, as a whole, were in tip-top condition for their first serious hit-out.
‘‘There’s been plenty of hard work,’’ he said. ‘‘Physically, everyone looks as good as I’ve ever seen them.’’
Email a friend