After the departure of legendary coach Wayne Bennett and the customary lurch he leaves every club in, the Knights have experienced some extremely dark days in the past few seasons, typified by three wooden spoons in a row they gained from 2015-2017.
However, off the back of a bumper two-year recruitment drive and some harsh lessons for their young squad, things are starting to look up in the Hunter, with the Knights hitting a purple patch of five wins in a row. While the squad they have at their disposal is impressive, they have let go of a fair share of talent in the past few seasons that Nathan Brown would no doubt love to have at his disposal currently.
Here are the top 10 players the Knights have let go, not re-signed or released in the last decade.
Having grown up and played his junior football in Knights heartland, Maitland, Rochow moved to Melbourne at a young age in order to progress his career. He would go onto feature twice for the Storm, as well as helping them win the 2009 Toyota Cup. After failing to crack a regular spot in the Storm team Rochow would sign a 1-year contract to return home to Newcastle in 2012.
Over the next two seasons, he would go onto establish himself as a favourite under Wayne Bennett on the Knights edge, applying his traditional low tackling technique and gangly running style to great effect. His consistent form resulted in a selection in the 2014 Country Origin squad, as well as being anointed co-captain ahead of the 2016 season.
During his time at the Knights, Rochow represented his hometown club on 72 occasions, however consistent injuries would go onto blight his progression in Newcastle and he was forced to leave for greener pastures in the form of a contract with South Sydney in 2017.
Rochow would go onto struggle again with injuries in short stints at Souths and the Storm, before signing with the Wests Tigers to play under Michael Maguire for 2018. Rochow impressed in pre-season and earned a starting spot for round 1 and has typified the no-frills approach that Michael Maguire has instilled in his squad over the past two seasons, employing his now bigger frame and astute running lines when called upon.
Another local junior let go by the club having played his junior footy with Wests Newcastle, Roberts was released at the conclusion of 2015 after a shaky season in which the Knights sacked their coach mid-season and won the wooden spoon.
While 2015 was an average season for Roberts, which can be said about almost every member of the Knights squad that year, in the four years prior he proved to be a fine servant for the club.
After debuting in round 6 of 2011 and playing sporadically for the remainder of the season, Roberts would go onto cement himself in the halves for the Knights in 2012, with his good form resulting in a new two-year contract to remain at the club. Roberts would affirm himself as the Knights go to half following consistent injuries to Jarrod Mullen, as well as becoming the Knights main goalkicker.
Over the coming seasons, Roberts would remain a constant figure for the club, appearing 97 times and scoring an impressive 21 tries, as well as representing Country Origin on two occasions in the now extinct Origin trial.
After a short stint in England’s North with Warrington, Roberts returned to the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans and has shown glimpses of his best form with his running game and game management being a particular highlight. He has also been anointed the Titans captain for the 2019 season, and while the young Knights are flying high, there is no doubt they could use his leadership and ball-playing skills to partner the one-man band that is Mitchel Pearce in the Knights halves.
The third Knights junior to feature on this list, having plied his trade for the Woy Woy Roosters, ‘Akuila the thriller’ forged himself into Knights folklore in his eight-year, 161 game spell at the Knights in which he netted an incredible 110 tries.
In his time at the Knights, Uate became a cult-hero amongst the clubs’ fans and cemented himself as the world’s premier winger in the earlier part of this decade with consistent appearances for the Kangaroos and Blues.
After a lean few years for the club compounded by the fact that he was one of their highest earners while remaining on the wing, it was decided that it was in the best interests of the club and the player that he be moved on, and was promptly snapped up by the Sea Eagles on a two-year deal beginning in 2017 following an early release from his Knights contract.
After a slow start on the peninsula, Uate proved to be an astute buy for the Sea Eagles, seeing out his two-year deal and scoring an impressive 19 tries from 39 games at a strike rate of almost one every two games.
While he was chewing up a decent chunk of the Knights salary cap on the wing, there is no doubt that the Hunter based club would love to have been able to call on their once favourite sons finishing abilities as they struggled noticeably for tries and attacking x-factor the following season which they once again claimed the wooden spoon.
Having grown up In Dragons territory on the NSW South Coast before signing for the Broncos to play in their NYC system, Korbin Sims returned to NSW in 2011 in order to join the Newcastle Knights NYC set up.
Two years after joining the Hunter based side, at the age of 21 Sims made his first-grade debut in round three of 2013. His performances over the remainder of that season were impressive enough to earn him a two-year contract extension as well as a place in Fiji’s World Cup squad.
Over the next three-years, Sims would establish himself as a regular in the team featuring predominantly at prop or lock, as well as becoming a fan favourite thanks to his no holds barred style of play. His impressive performances even lead to being named in the Queensland Origin Game II squad for the 2015 series, as well as regular features in the Emerging Maroons squads.
Following the departure of then-coach Wayne Bennett back to Brisbane, Korbin expressed an interest to follow suit, taking a substantial pay cut to leave Newcastle and join his former mentor. The Knights duly obliged, releasing him from the remainder of his contract to join the Broncos.
In the two years following his exit from Newcastle, Sims established himself as one of the NRL’s premier bench forwards, consistently maintaining or increasing the output and go-forward of whichever star player he replaced.
Having joined Newcastle at the beginning of the 2013 season from his native New Zealand, Tapine impressed many with his notable performances for both the Knights NYC side and the Junior Kiwis.
Tapine graduated to the Knights first-grade squad at the beginning of 2014 and would go onto feature for the Knights on 20 occasions over the next two seasons, impressing spectators with his raw power, aggression, and astute line running, being deployed primarily as an edge back-rower.
Having shown plenty of potential and with the Hunter based club keen to retain the young tyro, the Knights hierarchy was incensed when the young Kiwi signed with the Canberra Raiders on a bumper three-year contract beginning in 2017. An ugly saga for both the club and player ensued, with the Knights banishing Tapine from the first-grade squad to play the remainder of the season in the NSW Cup, a grade Tapine was already far too good for at the tender age of 21.
While the Knights offer wasn’t in the same ball-park financially as Canberra’s they hoped he would remain loyal to the club that stood by him after being mistakenly charged with assault in 2015.
The Knights would eventually release Tapine from the remainder of his contract to join the Raiders a year early, and in the seasons since Tapine has established himself as one of the game’s premier aggressors. With his impressive outings for the Raiders resulting in him becoming a regular name on the Kiwis team sheet since the 2017 World Cup.
While the Knights are by no means lacking in the forward department, they will no doubt rue the day they let Joe Tapine walk out the door.
Following a prolific junior career at the Dragons and Roosters, Leilua was released from the remainder of his Roosters contract due to disciplinary reasons, he was promptly snapped up by the Knights on a two-year contract.
Having played mainly as a winger at the Roosters, Leilua was deployed predominantly In the centres by coach Wayne Bennett to great effect, scoring 30 tries in 54 games for Newcastle. Having previously struggled with disciplinary and fitness issues, Leilua found a consistent vein of form under Wayne Bennett, culminating in a City Origin cap as well as cementing himself in the Samoan side.
After promising so much over his first two seasons for the club, sadly for Newcastle fans, his off-field inconsistencies reared their heads once more. Following Wayne Bennett’s departure from the club, questions were raised of Leilua’s fitness and attitude during the 2015 pre-season under new coach Rick Stone.
However, he remained in the starting team over the early rounds, but Leilua exercised a get-out clause making him a free agent for the 2016 season and was later released from the remainder of his Knights contract to join the Raiders mid-season.
Only a year later, Leilua was named Dally M centre of the Year and has gone onto forge one of the most dangerous attacking duos in the competition with fellow outside back Jordan Rapana. In his 86 games for the Raiders, Leilua has netted an impressive 39 tries and laid on many more for his wing partner, with his offloading prowess and powerful ball-running proving to be a constant threat for opposition teams.
After following father-figure Wayne Bennett from the Broncos to the Dragons and subsequently the Dragons to the Knights, it was no surprise to Newcastle fans that Boyd obtained an early release from his contract to follow the super-coach back up North of the Tweed.
After cementing himself as one of the game’s premier ball-playing fullbacks during his three-year stint at the Dragons, Boyd had a largely underwhelming three-seasons in Newcastle, only showing occasional glimpses of his undeniable class.
While he struggled for consistency in the Hunter, he was still regularly one of the first players picked for Queensland and Australia and would routinely put in solid performances in the representative arena.
Following some indifferent form at the beginning of 2014 as well as battling mental health issues, unfortunately, Boyd opted to undergo treatment and miss the remainder of the season with Newcastle. Later on, in that year, he was released from the remainder of his Knights contract to return home to Brisbane with the only coach he had ever known, Wayne Bennett.
Since his return to Red Hill, Boyd has shown to Knights fans what all the fuss was about, having led his boyhood club to within a second of a premiership, as well as winning the Broncos Best and Fairest award and numerous representative caps. While his form in Newcastle was average at best, there is no doubt that the Knights would love to be able to call on the experience and class of Boyd to help guide their young team through the back-end of this rebuilding phase.
Following an impressive junior career at the Broncos, as well as an extremely promising but injury-riddled for years at the Cowboys, Origin hopeful Tariq Sims joined the Knights ahead of the 2015 season on a two-year contract.
While Sims, unfortunately, suffered two separate leg breaks during his stay in North Queensland, when he was on the pitch, he displayed his noticeable potential thanks to his hard-running lines and forceful tackling technique. This resulted in consistent appearances for NSW Country and Fiji on the representative stage, so at the time the acquisition of Sims was seen as somewhat of a coup for the Hunter based club.
Over the next two seasons, Sims proved to be an astute buy for the Knights. Re-establishing himself as a player to fear, particularly amongst halfbacks who Sims was often deployed to man mark and terrorise out of the game. In his two seasons at Newcastle, Sims was named in the NSW Origin squad or Game II of the 2015 series, as well as being anointed co-captain of the club, worthy rewards for his consistent form.
Unfortunately for the Knights, midway through his second season, Sims was swayed by the rebuilding project that the Dragons were embarking upon, and as a result signed a three-year deal with St George Illawarra starting in 2017. Following the announcement, the relationship between Sims and the Knights became shaky, eventually leading to Sims being released to join the Dragons mid-season.
Sadly, for Knights fans, since joining the Red V Sims has displayed why there was so much hype around him as a junior. With Tariq cementing himself as the Dragons resident hard man and going onto be selected to make his State of Origin debut in Game II of 2018, he also went onto win the Dragons Player of the Year award off the back of his incredible return to form.
After a glittering junior career at the Broncos, littered with multiple NYC Team of the Year selections as well as Junior Kangaroos caps, Dane Gagai was released by the Broncos in mid-2012 due to disciplinary reasons.
He was promptly snapped up by Knights coach Wayne Bennett, whom Gagai was familiar with thanks to his time in the Broncos junior ranks. He immediately became a regular for the Knights, playing 12 matches in his rookie season and scoring an impressive 5 tries.
Over the next five years in Newcastle, Gagai would establish himself as the Knights best player and one of the premier outside backs in the competition.
Having made 128 appearances and scoring 29 tries in his five-year stint in the Hunter, Gagai became well renowned for utilising his speed, footwork, and strong palm to lay on numerous tries for whichever winger was lucky enough to play outside of him. Gagai’s knack of carrying most of the Knights attacking load didn’t go unnoticed, with the Mackay junior becoming a regular for the Maroons and Kangaroos since 2015.
Having endured the Knights taxing rebuild, Gagai eventually decided enough was enough, announcing that he wanted to leave the Hunter for greener pastures in the form of a four-year contract with the Rabbitohs. He claimed to be happy in Newcastle but decided to leave after he felt that he “wasn’t really wanted at the club.”
What has happened since has been no great surprise to anyone, with Gagai continuing on the upward trajectory that he was on at Newcastle. Performing much the same role for the Rabbitohs as he did at the Knights, creating and laying on quality opportunities for the men outside him and continuing to score tries at an alarming rate for the Maroons and Kangaroos.
No one ever thought the day would come when Danny Buderus wore colours other than the famous red and blue of Newcastle, however, the nightmare became reality for Knights fans at the end of 2009, when the club's hierarchy decided that their highest capped player wouldn’t be re-signed. Buderus would go onto sign with the Leeds Rhinos, with the thought of playing against his beloved Knights being too much.
Even though everyone knows how good Buderus was, I just want to rattle off a few achievements to re-establish the fact. He has won premierships, Dally M Medals, Origin series, has the most caps as NSW captain and the most consecutive appearances for the Blues, hell the Knights have even named a medal after him.
Which made it all the more peculiar when they opted not to re-sign their favourite son at the end of 2009 when he was still in more than solid form.
Over the next two seasons, the Knights struggled substantially to replace Buderus, deploying Isaac De Gois in the hooker jersey with varying effect. De Gois’ up and down form eventually led to the Knights bringing Buderus back to fill the problem position that they needn’t have created at the beginning of 2012.
In his last two seasons in blue and red, Buderus displayed why they never should have let him leave. Utilising his canny ball-playing and probing runs out of dummy half to once again terrorise opposition teams. His consistent form even lead to him being selected at hooker for the Blues in Game I of the 2012 State of Origin series, however sadly for Buderus and Blues fans he had to pull out due to injury.