2009 Newcastle Knights season

Last updated
2009 Newcastle Knights season
  2008 2010  

The 2009 Newcastle Knights season was the 22nd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 7th (out of 16), reaching the play-offs for the first time since 2006. The Knights were then knocked out of the finals in the first week by the Bulldogs.

Contents

Season summary

The Knights won 9 consecutive games at EnergyAustralia Stadium, breaking the previous home record of 8. Season 2009 also saw coach Brian Smith sacked after announcing on July 19 that he had signed a four-year deal with the Sydney Roosters, and subsequently the team faltered as they lost three consecutive games until Newcastle officials dismissed Smith and appointed assistant coach Rick Stone. The season began well for the Knights with the side winning 7 of their opening 10 games and were sitting equal first with the Bulldogs, St. George Illawarra and the Gold Coast with 14 points. However, during the representative season, the Knights struggled and went through a bad period of 7 losses in 11 games, the last three losses were recorded after news broke of Smith's departure from the club. With Stone in charge, the Knights won 3 of their last 4 games to secure 7th place and a finals berth for the first time since 2006.

Match results

RoundOpponentResultScoreVenueDateCrowd
1 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans Lost20-34Skilled ParkSunday, March 1516,203
2 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks Won24-12Toyota StadiumMonday, March 2311,148
3 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Lost12-22Bluetongue StadiumSunday, March 2915,227
4 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles Won26-12EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, April 515,324
5 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Won24-22EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, April 1213,626
6 St. George colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons Won24-18WIN Jubilee StadiumSaturday, April 1814,477
7 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Lost24-26Campbelltown StadiumSunday, April 2617,898
8 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Won28-12EnergyAustralia StadiumSaturday, May 218,154
9 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans Won23-18EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, May 1011,258
10 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Won38-6Sydney Football StadiumSaturday, May 168,611
11 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys Lost10-36Dairy Farmers StadiumMonday, May 2511,892
12 Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs Won22-14EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, May 3118,322
13 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Lost18-20EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, June 718,085
14 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Lost0-13Mt. Smart StadiumFriday, June 1214,255
15BYE
16 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Won25-20EnergyAustralia StadiumMonday, June 2914,204
17 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Lost14-18Olympic ParkSaturday, July 49,041
18 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Won23-4EnergyAustralia StadiumSaturday, July 1115,355
19BYE
20 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles Lost20-44Bluetongue StadiumFriday, July 2415,857
21 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Lost18-30EnergyAustralia StadiumSaturday, August 115,112
22 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Lost8-40Parramatta StadiumSunday, August 917,669
23 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Won26-14EnergyAustralia StadiumMonday, August 1713,580
24 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys Won32-26EnergyAustralia StadiumSaturday, August 2215,408
25 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Lost14-30Canberra StadiumMonday, August 319,400
26 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers Won35-0EnergyAustralia StadiumSunday, September 622,152
QF Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs Lost12-26ANZ StadiumSaturday, September 1221,369

NRL Standings

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons 2417072548329+21938
2 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2418062575428+147381
3 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 2416082514467+4736
4 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 2414192505348+15733
5 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24140102549459+9032
6 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 24140102511566−5532
7 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 24130112508491+1730
8 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 24121112476473+329
9 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 24120122558483+7528
10 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 24111122566549+1727
11 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers 24111122515589−7427
12 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 24110132558474+8426
13 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 2490152489520−3122
14 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 2472152377565−18820
15 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2450192359568−20914
16 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 2450192382681−29914

1The Bulldogs were deducted 2 competition points after an interchange breach in Round 2.

2009 Squad

Newcastle Knights 2009 Full-time Squad
PlayerPositionDOB (Age)HeightWeightJunior ClubPrevious Club(s)
Cameron Ciraldo Flag of Australia (converted).svg Second Row, Lock30/10/1984 (24)197 cm103 kgMenai Cronulla Sharks
Ben Cross Flag of Australia (converted).svg Prop06/12/1978 (30)190 cm110 kgBatemans Bay Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm
Isaac de Gois Flag of Portugal.svg Hooker24/12/1984 (24)180 cm85 kgAll Saints Liverpool Cronulla Sharks, Wests Tigers
Scott Dureau Flag of Australia (converted).svg Halfback29/07/1986 (23)173 cm82 kg Port Macquarie Sharks Nil
Joel Edwards Flag of Australia (converted).svg Prop, Second Row Cessnock Goannas Nil
Richard Fa'aoso Flag of Tonga.svg Prop, Second Row08/05/1984 (25)182 cm104 kgNorth Aspley Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels
Jimmy Fawcett Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fullback21/04/1988 (21)191 cm86 kgUmina Bunnies Canterbury Bulldogs
Kurt Gidley (C) (GK) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fullback, 5/807/07/1982 (27)178 cm89 kgWests NewcastleNil
Matt Hilder Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lock, Hooker30/04/1982 (27)184 cm94 kgCronulla Caringbah Cronulla Sharks, Gold Coast Titans
Chris Houston Flag of Australia (converted).svg Second Row, Lock15/02/1985 (24)193 cm106 kgNarooma St George Illawarra Dragons
Marvin Karawana Flag of New Zealand.svg Hooker, Lock30/07/1986 (23)181 cm98 kgWainui Lions Canterbury Bulldogs
Keith Lulia Flag of the Cook Islands.svg Centre, Wing17/06/1987 (22)190 cm97 kgPort Kembla St George Illawarra Dragons
Adam MacDougall Flag of Australia (converted).svg Centre, Wing08/05/1975 (34)183 cm95 kgHarbord Diggers Sydney Roosters, South Sydney
Luke MacDougall Flag of Australia (converted).svg Centre, Wing05/02/1982 (27)183 cm94 kgCronulla Caringbah Cronulla Sharks, South Sydney Rabbitohs, St George Illawarra Dragons
Shannon McDonnell Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fullback, Wing- Wests Tigers
James McManus Flag of Scotland.svg Wing, Centre15/01/1986 (24)186 cm91 kg Palmerston Raiders Nil
Constantine Mika Flag of New Zealand.svg Second Row, Lock14/09/1989 (19)183 cm98 kg- New Zealand Warriors
Jarrod Mullen Flag of Australia (converted).svg 5/8, Halfback09/04/1987 (22)179 cm88 kgTaree Panthers, Wests Newcastle, Old Bar PiratesNil
Wes Naiqama Flag of Fiji.svg Centre, Wing, Fullback19/10/1982 (26)184 cm95 kgArncliffe Scots St George Illawarra Dragons
Tim Natusch Flag of New Zealand.svg Prop03/07/1986 (23)184 cm108 kgWellington (NZ)Nil
George Ndaira Flag of Lebanon.svg Hooker22/02/1985 (23)175 cm88 kgArncliffe Scots St George Illawarra Dragons, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs
Cory Paterson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Second Row, Lock14/07/1987 (22)195 cm107 kg South Perth Lions Nil
Ben Rogers Flag of Australia (converted).svg 5/8, Lock26/04/1985 (24)184 cm92 kgSt Dominics St George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers
Junior Sa'u Flag of Samoa.svg Centre18/04/1987 (22)173 cm102 kg Logan Brothers Canberra Raiders
Steve Simpson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Second Row27/09/1979 (29)191 cm103 kgSingleton GreyhoundsNil
Zeb Taia Flag of the Cook Islands.svg Lock, Second Row11/10/1984 (24)185 cm106 kg St Clair Comets Parramatta Eels
Mark Taufua Flag of New Zealand.svg Second Row, Prop24/10/1981 (27)187 cm104 kgWoodberry WarriorsNil
Daniel Tolar Flag of Australia (converted).svg Prop, Second Row11/04/1982 (27)188 cm103 kgCentral CharlestownNil
Sione Tovo Flag of Tonga.svg Prop19/07/1988 (21)178 cm110 kg Mascot Jets South Sydney Rabbitohs
Akuila Uate Flag of Fiji.svg Wing6/10/1987 (21)185 cm94 kgWoy WoyNil
Cooper Vuna Flag of Tonga.svg Wing, Centre05/07/1987 (22)194 cm103 kgOtahuhu Leopards New Zealand Warriors
Danny Wicks Flag of Australia (converted).svg Prop05/12/1985 (23)190 cm124 kg Grafton Ghosts St George Illawarra Dragons

Sources