2021 Newcastle Knights season

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2021 Newcastle Knights season
NRL Rank7th
Play-off resultElimination Finalists (Week 1)
2021 recordWins: 12; draws: 0; losses: 12
Points scoredFor: 428; against: 571
Team information
CEOPhil Gardner
CoachAdam O'Brien
Captain
StadiumMcDonald Jones Stadium
Avg. attendance17,636
High attendance23,015
Top scorers
TriesEnari Tuala (13)
GoalsJake Clifford (33)
PointsJake Clifford (74)
2020 2022 >

The 2021 Newcastle Knights season was the 34th in the club's history. Coached by Adam O'Brien and co-captained by Jayden Brailey, Kalyn Ponga and Daniel Saifiti, they competed in the NRL's 2021 Telstra Premiership. In July, the NRL relocated the competition to Queensland to avoid an outbreak of the Deltra variant COVID-19 virus in New South Wales.[1] The Knights finished the regular season in 7th place (out of 16), thus reaching the finals but were knocked out after losing to the Parramatta Eels in week 1.

Squad

2021 NRL top 30 squad Development players Coaching staff

Extended squad players

Head coach

Assistant coaches


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Updated: 9 November 2021
Source(s): Newcastle Knights Profiles,
Rugby League Project


Transfers and Re-signings

Gains

Player/Coach Previous Club Length Source
McKenzie Baker Sydney Roosters 2021 [2]
Zane Camroux Wests Tigers 2021 [3]
Tyler Coburn Ipswich Jets Pre-season [4]
Jake Clifford North Queensland Cowboys 2023 [5]
Tyson Frizell St. George Illawarra Dragons 2023 [6]
Bailey Hodgson Castleford Tigers 2023 [7]
Jack Johns South Sydney Rabbitohs 2021 [8]
Jacob Kiraz North Queensland Cowboys 2021 [9]
Blake Lenehan Ipswich Jets Pre-season [4]
Brayden Musgrove Cessnock Goannas 2022 [10]
Andrew Ryan (NSW Cup coach) South Newcastle Lions 2021 [11]
Garrett Smith North Queensland Cowboys 2021 [12]
Sauaso Sue Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2022 [13]
Dom Young Huddersfield Giants 2023 [14]

Losses

Player/Coach Club Source
Jack Cameron South Sydney Rabbitohs [15]
Matt Cooper Lakes United [16]
Herman Ese'ese Gold Coast Titans [17]
Beau Fermor Gold Coast Titans [18]
David Furner (assistant coach) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [19]
Tim Glasby Retirement [20]
Tony Gleeson (NSW Cup coach) Released
Aidan Guerra Retirement [21]
Danny Levi Manly Warringah Sea Eagles [22]
Mason Lino Wakefield Trinity [23]
Toby Marks Canberra Raiders [24]
Sione Mata'utia St Helens R.F.C. [25]
Andrew McCullough Brisbane Broncos [26]
Tautau Moga South Sydney Rabbitohs [27]
Tyronne Roberts-Davis Wests Tigers [28]
Brandon Russell Tweed Heads Seagulls [29]
Bayden Searle Macquarie Scorpions [30]

Player Junior side Source
Harry Croker Knights Jersey Flegg Cup [31]
Cooper Jenkins Knights Jersey Flegg Cup [32]
Christian Ma'anaima Knights Jersey Flegg Cup [33]
Jaron Purcell Knights Jersey Flegg Cup [2]
Daniel Ticehurst Knights Jersey Flegg Cup [34]
Chris Vea'ila Knights S. G. Ball Cup [35]

Change of role

Player/Coach New role Source
Adam Bettridge (Jersey Flegg Cup coach) Knights S. G. Ball Cup assistant coach [36]
Luke Huth Knights NSW Cup [37]
Rory Kostjasyn (Knights development coach) Knights NRL assistant coach [38]
Eric Smith (Knights development coach) Knights NRL assistant coach [38]

Re-signings

Player/Coach Re-signed to Source
Bradman Best 2024 [39]
Jayden Brailey 2025 [40]
Lachlan Fitzgibbon 2023 [41]
Hymel Hunt 2023 [42]
Brodie Jones 2023 [43]
Kurt Mann 2023 [44]
Adam O'Brien (head coach) 2024 [45]
Mitchell Pearce 2022 [46]
Daniel Saifiti 2026 [47]
Jacob Saifiti 2024 [47]
Starford To'a 2023 [48]

Player contract situations

2021 (left) 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Tyler Coburn[49] McKenzie Baker[50] Mitchell Barnett[51] Bradman Best[39] Jayden Brailey[40] Daniel Saifiti[47]
Blake Green[52] Mitch Black[53] Jake Clifford[5] Jacob Saifiti[47]
Zac Hosking[54] Zane Camroux[53] Lachlan Fitzgibbon[41] Kalyn Ponga[55]
Josh King[56] Harry Croker[31] Tyson Frizell[6]
Jacob Kiraz[57] Mat Croker[58] Bailey Hodgson[7]
Blake Lenehan[49] Phoenix Crossland[59] Hymel Hunt[42]
Christian Ma'anaima[60] Tex Hoy[61] Jack Johns[59]
Mitchell Pearce[62] Cooper Jenkins[50] Brodie Jones[43]
Gehamat Shibasaki[63] Edrick Lee[64] David Klemmer[65]
Garrett Smith[66] Dylan Lucas[50] Kurt Mann[44]
Matt Soper-Lawler[67] Jirah Momoisea[68] Chris Randall[59]
Starford To'a[69] Brayden Musgrove[10] Enari Tuala[70]
Connor Watson[71] Jaron Purcell[72] Chris Vea'ila[73]
Simi Sasagi[74] Dom Young[14]
Pasami Saulo[75]
Sauaso Sue[13]
Daniel Ticehurst[34]

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 24 21 0 3 1 815 316 +499 44
2 Penrith Panthers (P) 24 21 0 3 1 676 286 +390 44
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 20 0 4 1 775 453 +322 42
4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 16 0 8 1 744 492 +252 34
5 Sydney Roosters 24 16 0 8 1 630 489 +141 34
6 Parramatta Eels 24 15 0 9 1 566 457 +109 32
7 Newcastle Knights 24 12 0 12 1 428 571 −143 26
8 Gold Coast Titans 24 10 0 14 1 580 583 −3 22
9 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 10 0 14 1 520 556 −36 22
10 Canberra Raiders 24 10 0 14 1 481 578 −97 22
11 St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 8 0 16 1 474 616 −142 18
12 New Zealand Warriors 24 8 0 16 1 453 624 −171 18
13 Wests Tigers 24 8 0 16 1 500 714 −214 18
14 Brisbane Broncos 24 7 0 17 1 446 695 −249 16
15 North Queensland Cowboys 24 7 0 17 1 460 748 −288 16
16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 3 0 21 1 340 710 −370 8

Milestones

Jerseys and sponsors

In 2021, the Knights' jerseys were made by O'Neills and their major sponsor was nib Health Funds.

2021 Home Jersey 2021 Away Jersey 2021 Heritage Jersey 2021 Indigenous Jersey 2021 NSW Mining Jersey

Fixtures

Pre-season Trials

Date Opponent Venue Score Tries Conversions Attendance
Saturday, 27 February Melbourne Storm Albury Sports Ground 10–30 D.Lucas, D.Young C.Randall (1/1)
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw

Statistics

Name Appearances Tries Goals Field Goals Points Captain Age
Mitchell Barnett 24 4 13 0 42 0 27
Bradman Best 17 3 0 0 12 0 20
Jayden Brailey 23 3 0 0 12 20 25
Jake Clifford 13 2 33 0 74 0 23
Mat Croker 2 0 0 0 0 0 22
Phoenix Crossland 9 1 1 0 6 0 21
Lachlan Fitzgibbon 10 3 0 0 12 0 27
Tyson Frizell 19 3 0 0 12 0 30
Blake Green 6 0 0 0 0 0 35
Tex Hoy 7 1 6 0 16 0 22
Hymel Hunt 17 4 0 0 16 0 28
Jack Johns 6 1 0 0 4 0 24
Brodie Jones 22 3 0 0 12 0 23
Josh King 18 1 0 0 4 0 26
David Klemmer 21 0 0 0 0 0 28
Kurt Mann 22 3 0 1 13 0 28
Jirah Momoisea 3 0 0 0 0 0 23
Brayden Musgrove 7 1 0 0 4 0 23
Mitchell Pearce 12 3 0 1 13 0 32
Kalyn Ponga 15 8 10 0 52 5 23
Chris Randall 5 2 0 0 8 0 26
Daniel Saifiti 20 3 0 0 12 17 25
Jacob Saifiti 23 3 0 0 12 0 25
Simi Sasagi 2 0 0 0 0 0 20
Pasami Saulo 3 0 0 0 0 0 23
Gehamat Shibasaki 3 1 0 0 4 0 23
Sauaso Sue 23 2 0 0 8 0 29
Starford To'a 12 6 0 0 24 0 21
Enari Tuala 25 13 0 0 52 0 23
Connor Watson 25 2 0 0 8 0 25
Dom Young 6 4 0 0 16 0 20
Totals 25 80 63 2 448 Average: 25

31 players used.

Source:[76]

Representative honours

The following players appeared in a representative match or were named in a representative squad in 2021.

Emerging Blues squad

New South Wales

Queensland

Individual honours

Newcastle Knights awards

References

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