KNIGHTS chief executive Matt Gidley hopes fans recognise the quiet achievers as well as the champions when considering contenders to be inducted to the club’s Hall of Fame.
A more than worthy candidate himself, as one of only six men to have played more than 200 games for the Knights, the premiership-winning former NSW and Australian centre launched the Hall of Fame yesterday as the centrepiece of the club’s 25th anniversary celebrations.
Click here to vote for inaugural inductees to the Newcastle Knights Hall of Fame.
Gidley was joined at a media conference at Hunter Stadium by long-serving former Knights chairman Michael Hill, who represented the five-man selection panel charged with the responsibility of selecting the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame.
‘‘With the four that you guys will come up with this year, there’s probably a couple that spring to mind straight away, but I’m looking forward to the other two who might come up,’’ Gidley said.
‘‘I was lucky to play with a lot of wonderful players who played at the highest level and were able to win premierships here.
‘‘But there’s also guys I played with who were highly respected and probably didn’t represent as well, but certainly reflected everything this town stands for both on and off the field, so I’m hoping that the fans will take that into account as well, and I’d love to see people like that recognised in the Hall of Fame.’’
Presented by the Newcastle Herald, the Hall of Fame will induct four men from a list comprising the 229 players who have represented the club in at least one first-grade game, and the seven coaches who have guided them, since the Knights joined what was then known as the NSW Rugby League premiership in 1988.
Herald readers will have the opportunity to nominate 10 players they consider most worthy of induction, and these votes will help formulate a list of 25 to be announced on Thursday, March 1 – the day the Knights kick off the NRL season against 2010 premiers St George Illawarra at Hunter Stadium.
From that list of 25, the selection panel will compile a short list of 10 to be announced on Friday, March 16, when the Knights host the Broncos.
The selection panel will then meet again to consider the final list of 10 and rate each player.
From those ratings, the four leading vote-getters will become the first inductees.
They will be announced at a gala dinner at Wests Leagues Club on Wednesday, April 4, in the lead-up to Newcastle’s round-six home game against Parramatta on the weekend of April 6-9.
The selection panel comprises Hill and fellow Knights founding father Leigh Maughan, Knights foundation coaching director Allan Bell, Herald rugby league reporter Brett Keeble and NBN Television sports commentator Mike Rabbitt.
Hill said players and coaches from the club’s formative years would be considered favourably.
‘‘There will be a weighting towards the people who were here 25 years ago, because some of them set the foundation stone,’’ Hill said.
‘‘If you take [foundation coach] Allan McMahon, for argument’s sake, the sayings that he brought to this club – like be the player that everyone wants to play with – they are now part of the club’s culture.
‘‘Those things will weigh heavily, as well as the actual on-field performances. It will be the impact they had on this football club; the building of what the club represents in the community is going to be very important in the judging.’’
Hill said induction into the Hall of Fame would surpass life membership of the club.
‘‘As everybody knows, at some stage or other in your life-time, you have to reflect on what’s gone before. So far, the greatest honour we’ve been able to bestow on players and officials has been life membership, and that’s been bestowed very seriously to only a select few people,’’ he said.
‘‘What’s happening now though is that we’re moving to another level, and people who are inducted into the Hall of Fame will be honoured and treasured and revered amongst the community for what they have given to this football club.
‘‘Particularly on-field performance, but of course their involvement with the club during the time they were here and in the years that have gone on from then.
‘‘Their off-field performance, their contribution to the community, their relationship with the fans, will weigh heavily as well in the judgment.
‘‘It will be a difficult task to separate, in the first instance, four people from all the great people that have played for this football club.’’
After the initial intake, and on the recommendation of the selection panel, up to two players or coaches can be inducted each year. Players and coaches are not eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame until after they have retired from the National Rugby League.
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