Former Newcastle Knight Matty Johns counts down all time favourites in red, blue
The countdown continues for Matty Johns’ best Newcastle Knights players of all time. The league legend has revealed to The Newcastle News who made his prestigious cut. Today, Johns is naming numbers 15-11, before another five on Thursday.
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The countdown continues for Matty Johns’ best Newcastle Knights players of all time.
The league legend has revealed to The Newcastle News who made his prestigious cut.
Today, Johns is naming numbers 15-11, before another five on Thursday.
Who will be his top pick? Check out The Newcastle News on Friday.
Click on each footy card below to flip over for player stats.
15. Darren Albert
Wing
1996-2001
Apparently scored some try of note in a grand final once. Outside that, Alby was also a rare athlete. Often when sprinters come across to rugby league, they lose all their quickness when changing angles and so on. But Darren was one of the most ‘football fast’ athletes I ever saw. When this bloke changed angles, he actually accelerated. Got even quicker.
14. Mark Hughes
Fullback/Centre
1997-2005
If Cameron Smith is built, as they say, like an accountant, then Hughesy has to be the accountant’s accountant. Yet what this Kurri Kurri boy lacked physically, he more than made up for mentally … which is why he won two premierships and played NSW Origin. In Hughesy, you had a footballer who typified that great Knights saying: Be the player everyone else wants to play alongside. He just never let you down. Ever.
13. Timana Tahu
Centre
1999-2004
First time I saw Timana play was a schoolboy game at Marathon Stadium. And, boy, think watching Magic Johnson in the centres. There were flicks, tricks, passes behind the back, everything. I remember turning to this bloke next to me and saying what a special player the kid was. The guy replied, ‘yeah he’ll be good once he gets rid of all that lairy shit’. At which point I told the bloke he was an absolute idiot. We spent years giving ‘T’ early ball to terrorise opponents.
12. Marc Glanville
Backrow
1988-1997
Absolute ironman who sits among the most professional footballers I’ve ever known. I remember the night before the ‘97 grand final, MG was asked by our captain Paul Harragon what it would mean to win what would be his last ever game as a Knight? And MG, he couldn’t talk. Just started crying. Which is when everyone in that room knew we wouldn’t be beat.
11. Tony Butterfield
Prop
1988-2000
No better word than ‘warhorse’. In his last couple of years, my greatest joy was watching Butts pack into scrums while listening for the opposing young forward to start whining to the referee how ‘this old bastard keeps headbutting me’. One of Buttsy’s other great strengths was teaching young Knights players what the club was all about, the culture and what was expected.
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