Famous Knights Quotes

Allan McMahon (1987) "Each player aspire's to be the player, other players want to play with." 

Allan McMahon -  Prior to the Knights 1988 Herald Challenge Cup clash with reigning premiers Manly.  The young Knights were entitled to be nervous, but McMahon's pre match address put them at ease. "There's only one thing you have to give today, and that's your best.  Thats all."
 

David Waite -  "The highlight for me was when the horse was allowed into the stadium for our second appearance in the finals in 1992,  Like this year, the authorities would not let him go to the stadium the first week of the finals.  But Leigh maughan 'bashed them' to enable the horse to get there the second week.  We were in the dressing rooms and heard this almighty roar, and then someone told us the horse had just hit the stadium. To have that same noise as we were used to at Marathon Stadium, multiplied by the emotions of the Novacastrians with a smell of the finals, was just a fabulour experience."

Mal Reilly -  "The approach today is scientific and specific."

Mal Reilly, 1998 "The Knights are not a team of drug takers or cheats, I couldn't be prouder of them." 

Mal Reilly said  "MacDougall could probably increase his pace because a few leg operations curtailed his pre-season speed work `but I don't  know if he could improve his strength. He'll break something in the gymnasium if he does.' 

Great Britain captain Andy Farrell asked Matty Johns last year: "Isn't Malcolm a bit of a legend up there in Newcastle?" 
"Legend?  Mate, if he came home tomorrow and ran for lord mayor he'd win in a landslide." 

Bob Fulton was asked to describe the Johns combination after the 97 ARL Grand final,  "Celestial, God-like, miraculous, cosmic. These Johns boys are the best thing in rugby league since beer in the dressing-room and the invention of screw-in-studs. 

Anthony Butterfield 
A. Butterfield in 1988,  "Blue and red, never dead.' 

A. Butterfield on Paul Harragon, "When I first saw him he was big, not too smart-looking and young, but you could tell even then he had leadership." 

Butterfield in 1996 was reprimanded by referee Eddie Ward on microphone for tv viewers, when he packed in "too hard" 
in a scrum against Manly at Marathon.  "I'm a front rower..  thats what I do." 

1997 - On the farewell, when Knights fans stood along 30 km of the F3 to wish the side well when they left for sydney the day before the grand final.  "The four of us who have been here from the start - Paul Harragon, Marc Glanville, Steve Crowe and I - were in tears.  People wer lined along the freeway.  there were kids and woman, men, young and old.  And they weren't just cheering us, there was a passion there..  you could see it in their faces.  We started off on a shoestring budget all those years ago, but I always knew this would happen.  I just wasn't sure when."

Tony Butterfield on retirement `There are thousands of old blokes with limps around Newcastle and I'm just another ex-footballer. To be honest there are other things I would prefer to be doing, but I've probably got a good head for radio.' 

Tony Butterfield – “Tea or coffee: I don't drink either. I either have water, juice or a cold one.”

Timana Tahu seeks solace from the senior members of the Knights. ' Doogs and Robbie O spend a fair bit of time with me,' he said. `Robbie is really good at calming people down. Doogs on the other hand gets you fired up because all he talks about is bashing people and making big breaks and running over the top of everyone. I room with Robbie a lot when we go away and he keeps me very relaxed, and he's a good bloke to be around.'

Paul Harragon 
Paul Harragon in 1996, "At this stage of my career if I can't win a premiership in Newcastle, I don't want to win one." 

Paul Harragon in the team meeting before the 97 Grand Final,  "Boys, we are going to come home winners, no matter what." 

Paul Harragon's emotions speech to his team mates the night before the 1997 Grand Final, "Boys, They don't send you off in Grand Finals, So lets rip into these guys." 

`She'll be right mate. I'll be back,' said Harragon, after seven operations on his knee in seven years. 

Paul Harragon – One perfect Day - `If being accused of bashing your wife isn't the most abhorrent accusation that could be levelled against a man, it must be in the top three.' Other `mad rumours' doing the rounds about him at the time included taking out transvestites, bashing up three blokes in a pub, knocking out Joey in a fight and having a harem of girlfriends on the side. 

`A fit Chief out there wielded considerable influence over the outcome of games and he'd rub off on all the other guys.’ Warren Ryan

Paul Harragon to Mark Carroll at Marathon 1999, "Don't run at anyone else, just run at me," 

Harragon on Marathon Stadium"Opposition players get on the bus and drive into town, stay in a five-star hotel. Then they get to the ground and walk into the cramped dressing shed which have just been freshly hosed down by the groundsman. There's cement floors, it's freezing cold, you run out and it's an uncomfortable place to be. It's usually cold, the crowd hate you and let you know it." 

"I'll tell you something, there is no way that wooden spoon is coming near our city!"  The Chief 26 June 2005

Paul Harragon segment on The Footy show -  "Thats Gold" 

Ray Warren, Ch 9 commentator, 1997 Grand Final, "Thats not a try,  thats a miracle!"

Robbie O'Davis
Robbie O'Davis after winning 1997 Grand Final, "I could get killed tomorrow and I would die a happy man, I"m living in a dream.  Along with the birth of my daughter this is the greatest day of my life... its brilliant."

Robbie O'Davis,  1997 -  the Grand Final,  "Before the game I promised myself no one would run though me to score,  I even dreamt about my defence last night, and the funny thing is I woke up feeling sore....  there was no way anyone wsa going to cross the line through me."

Matthew Johns 
Matthew Johns on 2000 Major Semi final, "It's like you're on a slippery slide and you can't get off. The momentum swung, they got their tails up and got a real sense of that momentum."

Matthew Johns, "At 2.30pm,  I make sure I run out second behind the captain. I've done it behind Sarge (Mark Sargent) and the Chief (Paul Harragon), and now Butts. If you wait until the end the crowd has died down a bit. I like to get the roar of a full house at Marathon smacking me in the face as I run out. 

"I need another Dally M from Joey hanging in Mum and Dad's house like I need a hole in the head." Matty Johns

Matty on Bedsy - "The most amazing thing about Danny is he's still got his good looks even though he's playing hooker”.

Matthew Johns says, ``Andrew's a freak ... a one in a million.  Not many come along like Joey (Andrew) too often. His development has helped me become a better player because I'm trying to keep pace as well." 

Matthew Johns explains: "We had this trampoline in the backyard and we'd splash water on it, get a football, soap it up and toss it at each other for hours. We probably didn't realise it at the time, but that was giving us skills that would help us down the track. We'd also get the ball, soap it up and put up bombs and charge each other while trying to catch the ball. We used to have passing competitions as well. To practise, dad would flip the trampoline over and we'd chalk out targets on it and throw from both sides from different distances."

Matthew Johns explains, "We'd play against each other one-on-one, we'd have a one-tackle rule, so we'd learn pretty quickly about how to beat a bloke, chip and regather, and grubber and regather."

Matthew Johns says of his brother,  "He will practise something for an hour, so they learn how he is going to run in a situation and where they should be to take advantage of him," Matthew says.

Matthew Johns says of his brother, "If you watch him run to the line, you'll see that he can keep his vision at 90 degrees to the defensive line and not even look where the player he is going to pass to is because they have practised."

Matthew Johns explains explains why Joey loses his cool in some situations."He doesn't like it when things go wrong or when he gets beaten, I remember the look of horror on mum's face when she saw Andrew chase me around the yard with a wooden fence paling . . . after that, I just used to let him win."
 

Matthew Johns on drug testing, 1998,  `I've been drug-tested plenty of times this year and dead-set, if I'm taking steroids I want a refund because they're just not working,'

"I would like to send out a warning to all the young guns in the Knights squad to watch out for my ferocious leg-break and cavalier batting style,” M. Johns before the Charity cricket game 2005

Reg Reagan on Andrew Johns;
"Fat arse Johns..   overrated..  soft..  He's soft.."
"Your a cat Johns.."
Country training session,  pointing to Joeys backside..   "plenty of free lunches down there..."
"Lovely bloke,  not fit..  look at the size of his backside..."
"Best player in the world,  my arse..."
"He should have a tattoo of an arrow pointing down his back, "Danger..  Wide load.."
"Look at that arse..  Read the label on his shorts..  XXXXXL.."
Reg to Johns, "Welcome to camp, your majesty..."

Reg Reagan to BK, 2003 Origin Camp – "You gotta good set of buns on you mate… I wonder what’s under that towel…."
BK to Reg – "Not much!"

Trent (Matty) to Joey in reference to his butt, 2003 Origin Dinner – "You have the most magnificent big landing pad I have ever seen in Rugby League, it’s like a big V12 engine, I just wanna drive it from behind nice and steady".

Conversation between Johns and Bob Dwyer - Johns said: 'How do you reckon I'll go?'  -  I said: 'in three months you will be coaching the backline

Matthew Burke playing Rugby in England, "They watch him. Jonny, he talks about Joey all the time," 

"All players can pass right to left, but his left to right is just as strong.  He can hi you on the chest from 20 to 30 meters.  He can be on the right side of the field and I can be on the left and I can still expect him to skew it off his boot and across to me."  Mark Hughes on Andrew Johns.

Bedsey: "Joey doesn't have to say anything. He just gives you the evil eye and you get disappointed because you know you've let him down."

Hughesy after sustaining an injury - "That Johns fellow has been lucky enough to have played in some good sides. The big question now is whether he can play without Mark Hughes. We will see what happens in the next few weeks."

"I've never been a prolific tryscorer and I think what happened with me was when I first came into first grade there was a real changing of the guard at Newcastle and it was my role to steer the side around the park,"  Matthew Johns 2002

Andrew Johns
Andrew Johns on winning the '97 Grand Final, "Better than the best sex I've ever had in my life, `I can't believe it. I think I'm on morphine again having mad morphine dreams again like when I was in hospital.' 

Andrew Johns - Preseason 1998 - "I'd done no training, my groin was shot, and there were times when I thought about giving it away but there were times when I couldn't get out of bed in the morning and I had to get my wife Renae to help me out of bed because my groin was so sore."

Andrew Johns on Paul Harragon, "God doesn't make many big, tall, strong, fast, aggressive men like Chief Harragon and it will be hard to get a replacement for him."

Andrew Johns on 2000 Major Semi final,, "At 16-2, that should have been enough. We should have put them away - played football, keep them away and make sure we score again..... I don't want to talk about it any more, that's it."

Andrew Johns,  `I told Renae if she hasn't had the baby by Saturday night to cross her legs while she's watching the game.' 

In 1998, Johns credited his improved form on the field to Renae. "Instead of having 20 schooners on a night out I'll go home after six or so."

Andrew Johns , 4 June, 2000  - "I am still a week or two away from making a final decision on my future but I will say I’ll be playing either in Newcastle or Brisbane next season," 

Andrew Johns before the 2001 Grand Final -  "I get frustrated at every game, I get frustrated at training and I get frustrated at home when the dinner is cold. It's just a matter of keeping your emotions in check." 

Andrew Johns, after he was picked as halfback for Australia,  "I don't like playing hooker, I don't want to play hooker."

Andrew Johns on switching to Rugby,  "I won't lie I enjoy watching rugby. League and union are that close but to switch would be a massive gamble. My main concern is that those rugby shorts make my arse look too big!"

Andrew Johns on Campbelltown Stadium,  "I never liked it and there is this old lady who sits in the same place every time I have been there who just gives it to me when I am kicking for goal, Yelling out stuff like 'hairy legs' and 'bucket arse'."

Andrew Johns on his hip flexor injury 2002, "I pushed it while stretching with my nude yoga partner, Mark Hughes."

Andrew Johns on Partying,  "I love a few beers but I'm at the stage now where I'm nearly scared to go out and have fun."

Andrew Johns (2003) on his three racehorses - "Arduous King, Buenos Aires and, to be honest, I've got no idea what the third one's name is. They're all race horses, but they may as well be trotters because they're bloody hopeless."

Andrew Johns sledge, 2003 to Mark Riddell "We had oranges at half time,  looks like you had pizza!"

Andrew Johns yelling to Mal Reilly,  (about hooker Lee Jackson after a few mistakes)  "Get him off !!"

Andrew on playing against his brother, "I'm not really worried about Matty or mum or dad, his wife (is the one) I'm worried about,"

Andrew Johns on living in Newcastle, "I have to change my [phone] number a fair bit, which becomes a bit of a pain in the arse," he says. "People just ring up and scream. People drive past. I think 50 per cent of Newcastle know where I live. It just drives you crazy." 

"I think next year will do me."  Andrew Johns, Footy show 2/06/05
Andrew Johns in 2001 Grand Final,  how long the Knights are going to drink/party  "All Day"

Andrew Johns 2005- "Our home performances over the last couple of years have slipped. We used to have an aura about us up here (in Newcastle). 
"We were very hard to beat. It's slipped in the last couple of years but we'll be looking to make EnergyAustralia Stadium a hard place to come and get points."

Renee Johns - 8 months before break up with Andrew.. "I can assure everyone we are still very much together and, hopefully, this will silence the stupid people out there who are spreading the rumours,  we basically just laugh them off when we hear them, but it can all get a bit much. Sometimes I don't think people realise that [though] you are in the public eye you still have feelings."
Andrew Johns when its time to play mistake free tight football, "Game on"

Heard at any Knights game, New-Cas-tle, New-Cas-tle, New-Cas-tle

Jack Gibson rates Andrew Johns, "He goes to the game, he isn't shadow sparring. When he's got the football in his hands there's always a chance something will happen. But I don't know about him getting there any more. He's at a standard where it doesn't get any better. There's no Super State of Origin game, nothing comes after that."

Andrew Johns after the Knights first win of 2005. "See that monkey? We just got a massive gorilla off our back. I've just got to get down to the sheds and teach the boys the victory song."

"I knew he was wounded, but he doesn't leave the field unless he's dead." -  Ben Kennedy knows how important Andrew Johns is to the cause.

Mark Hughes says: "Andrew Johns always wants a lift even though he has his own car."

"Timana is likely to do that to Jesus Christ." -  St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown consoled rookie Ben Creagh for the three tries Tahu scored on his wing.

Sterlo on Timana, 2003 - "When he's on song, there is not a more gifted athlete in our game".

George Carmont -  "I’d like to stay here as long as I can, maybe I’ll try England if that doesn’t work out, but I’ll get what I can out of football while the body holds up," he said. "It beats working in a chicken factory."

1997 Premiership
Robbie O'Davis -  "There are two things in life I have always wanted...  a premiership and a child.  Now I have fullfilled my dream.  Its the greatest day in my life."

Darren Albert -  "When i got the ball from Joey - I saw blokes all around me.  But then I saw how close the line was, and I thought yes, Im there.  I was ecstatic."

Mark Hughes -  "All of us have a special  bond now - we've won a grand final - and thats something to treasure."

Adam MacDougall -  "This doesn't feel real... I just can't believe it."

Matthew Johns -  "Even if I'm senile, this is something I'll never forget."

Andrew Johns -  "I wanted to get nude and tap dance on the crossbar, but I thought I might get fined."

Tony Butterfield -  "We started off on a shoestring budget all those years ago, but I always knew this would happen."

Bill Pedan -  "I can't explain how good I feel.  We are a great bunch of blokes and one thing we never do is give in."

Paul Harragon -  "I can't believe we did it.  They've beaten us three times this year and the last 11 times we've met.  But we won when it counted."

Adam Muir -  "Its just a fairytale.  Going to Norths is the last thing on my mind.  All I'm thinking about is partying for a couple of weeks."

Marc Glanville -  "After 10 years this is the ultimate way to bow out."

Major Semi final - Newcastle blew a 16 - 2 half time lead against Sydney City to eventually lose 26 - 20. What they said....
Matthew Johns: It's like you're on a slippery slide and you can't get off. The momentum swung, they got their tails up and got a real sense of that momentum. We were probably shocked by that a little bit, because until their first try everything was working so well for us. 

Andrew Johns: At 16-2, that should have been enough. We should have put them away - played football, keep them away and make sure we score again..... Matty's shattered. Buttsy's shattered. I just wish we could have done a little bit more and given them a grand final. I don't want to talk about it any more, that's it. 

Adam MacDougall: I don't want to talk about it. 

Darren Albert: It's just a massive let down.... We only put the ball down twice in the first half then they had the run of the play in the second half and three quick tries changed the game around. 

Matthew Gidley: We had it won at half-time and I don't know what happened to us in the second half.... We were still confident of coming back, even at 16-14 and 20-16, but the ball started rolling for them and we couldn't stop the momentum. I don't know what we did wrong. 

Mark Hughes: I just find it so hard to accept the loss because everything was in our favour. The whole town's been behind us all week and they turned up in their droves today... We had everything to play for, and somehow we've just blown it. 

Timana Tahu: Shattered. We wanted to do it for Matty, Buttsy, Daisy and Shielsy and I don't know, those tries in the second half lifted them up. In the first half, we had them. I don't know what happened. 

Bill Peden: It was just heart breaking. We just wanted to win it for the boys.... We wanted to send a few of the boys out as winners and that's just not going to happen unfortunately. 

David Fairleigh: I don't know what to say, it just didn't happen, it wasn't meant to be. 

Matt Parsons: Unbelievable. There's nothing else to say. 

Danny Buderus: It's just a nightmare, a bad nightmare in the second half and then I woke up when the full time siren went, it was unbelievable. The supporters were unreal and they were expecting a grand final and we had it all wrapped up at halftime and we didn't get it. 

Tony Butterfield: We did our best for the first 50 minutes and I thought we were the dominant side... But that's the nature of the game and you've got to be on your toes for the entire 80 minutes so full credit to the Roosters boys. 

Sean Rudder: It's just really disappointing for Buttsy, Matty, Shielsy and Daisy. We came out in the second half and did what we were supposed to do, then they scored that flukey try and an intercept try and we couldn't stop the momentum." 

Peter Shiels: That's the lowest way to go out ever. Obviously for the team to lose and know that we could have been there next week is heart breaking. Personally, I hardly played a role at all and to go out on an injury is terrible. 

Steve Simpson: At the moment I've just got an empty feeling, I can't really explain it. I'm just trying to run things through my mind and figure out what happened but I don't know, they just seemed to get on that roll and we just couldn't stop them." 

Paul Rauhihi: I suppose it has been good to actually get a taste of it. It is only going to help me in the future to know what it feels like to lose those sort of games. But I never want to feel that again. 

Warren Ryan: It's a shame. Great game and a shame somebody had to lose but I can't believe it yet. It's pretty hard to come to grips with. Up to half time I thought we played extremely well and opened the second half well, and I couldn't believe the passage of play when they scored those tries.

2001 Grand Final
Danny Buderus -  "All thats come my way this year..  Its unreal - Test football and a grand final win.  'Hages" has been unreal, all the boys just love to win for him and we love to win for the town."

Matt Parsons -  "Its almost surreal.  Its the ultimate in football for me.  But the great thing too, is that it has happened for our families and thos fantastic fans.  We're mates up here, our wives are close and our kids play together.  It doesn't get any better that this."

Josh Perry -  "Its like a dream.  I was a kid watching them win in 1997 and now Im a part of it.  The guys in the team, the fans and this club -  Its all just so special."

Matt Gidley -  "Its something I'll remember for the rest of my life - an incredible feeling.  I'll never forget the elation amongst the boys and to see these guys in 50 years time, we'll always have something in common."

Matt Parsons before the 2001 Grand Final win,  `We've had about eight weeks of people saying we [the Newcastle forwards] aren't up to it; that we're not good enough.  Well, we're still here, mate. They're talking about the props and I take that very personally. [Fellow Newcastle prop] Josh Perry and I aren't rep players, but we're having a go and doing our best for the team. Once you get on the field, reputations don't count for anything. It's what you do on the day and myself, Josh and our other two props on the bench, Clinton O'Brien and Glenn Grief, will be going out there to do it." 

Others
1989 - Wayne Pearce took one look at the sign on the city outskirts that bids visitors "Welcome to Newcastle" and said that is should have read, 
"Welcome to hell."

2000 Wayen Bennett on Andrew Johns,  "I think he should start taking his medicine again." 

"We've been belted here so many times I couldn't possibly feel sorry for anyone that we beat." Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens after his team kept the Knights winless for another week in round 10. 

Ben Kennedy - 2005 - "It was the best five years of my life up there, I've got a premiership tattoo on the back of my shoulder and I met some really wonderful people so I really, really feel sorry for them," Kennedy said. "They've just got so many injuries; they have to do something about it."

Ben Kennedy - 2005 - "I'm filthy we didn't win more premierships up there. I really believe that we should have, but injuries just killed us. I don't know what they're going to do but it's a problem that they've got to look at."