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.
4. Darius Boyd
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.
How doesn’t kirt Gidley get a mention?
Not much there is a great loss I would have thought except maybe Tariq Sims. He’s been good at Saints but not quite like at NQ before the broken legs – at that time I thought was almost Tallis/Ben Kennedy-like. Nothing against Sims, but horrific injuries like his take their toll. Boyd wasn’t that great at Newcastle – I thought Saints got the best years out of him and he hasn’t been as good back at Brisbane as he was at Kogarah/WIN. I don’t count Buderus as a loss – he’d just reached the end of a great career at Newie (brilliant work Saints – he trialled with us and we knocked him back, just like we passed on Thurston – nice one Peter Doust).