Newcastle fans have had to wait 25 long years to see their side in another grand final, but it’s likely the passionate supporter base still have vivid memories of their most recent premiership triumph.
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It was an Andrew Johns masterclass that delivered Newcastle the premiership back in 2001, but there were a host of unsung heroes who also played a role in the grand final glory.
Here, foxsports.com.au looks back at the 17 men who stunned Parramatta and does some digging to see what some of them are up to now.
1. Robbie O’Davis
The diminutive fullback is a Newcastle great, playing his entire 13-year career for the Knights.
He was one of the club’s best attacking weapons that season and a crucial cog in Newcastle’s premiership success.
Since retirement, O’Davis has unfortunately battled with the symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
In an interview back in 2023, O’Davis said he doesn’t remember anything about his two grand final victories.
“All I remember is that I played for a good team, played for a town,” O’Davis told Channel 7.
“Even watching the grand finals now, I’ve watched them that many times, I can’t remember doing them.”
O’Davis has a daughter, Dior, who is an emerging star in the Sea’ Eagles NRLW system.
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2. Timana Tahu
Tahu is a code star who forged a terrific career as an outside back in the NRL, playing 196 games for the Knights, Eels and Panthers as well as 12 appearances for the Blues and five for Australia.
In 2008, Tahu switched to rugby union, playing for the NSW Waratahs and representing the Wallabies on four occasions but after two years in the 15-man code, he was back in the NRL.
Tahu scored the match-sealing try in the 2001 decider but the Eels’ stunning late flurry did make things interesting.
Tahu recounted the reception the club received following the 2001 win.
“Newcastle got a public day off. There was over 100,000 people lined up on the streets. It was just an ongoing party,” he told CODE Sports.
“Then also we were going out to all the other towns like Cessnock and Kurri and Maitland, having parades out there as well. It just didn’t stop.
“It was amazing to experience that in ‘01 and that’s what I’m hoping for the boys to experience again this year.”
Tahu works for the NRL as a business development officer and Indigenous pathways manager.
Using his platform and standing in the game, he denounced racism in rugby league when appearing on the Hi Society podcast last year, believing players are on a hiding to nothing standing up to racism..
“I feel sorry for the athletes…We can go through the past of all the athletes that stood up against racism and they’re still copping it to this day” he said.
“Standing up, you’ve gotta have some guts. The athletes aren’t prepared for the backlash.”
3. Matthew Gidley
Gidley did it all during his 11 years at the Knights.
The oldest of the Gidley brothers made his debut in 1996 at the age of 18 and went on to have an outstanding career as a one-club man, writing his name into Newcastle folklore.
Gidley enjoyed a breakout season in 1998 before then making his Australian debut in the Tri-Nations the following year and representative honours continued to follow for the standout centre.
He and Timana Tahu formed a lethal combination, with the pair playing a key role in Newcastle’s premiership-winning 2001 season.
Gidley went on to play another five years at the Knights before leaving for the Super League, later returning to Newcastle as CEO from 2011 to 2017.
When Gidley finished up in that role, he was looking for something “totally different” and after around nine months of “doing nothing and talking to people” he landed on something completely left-of-field — owning McDonald’s franchises.
Gidley opened up on his journey on the Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns podcast earlier this year, explaining that he knew a few licensees in Newcastle that had sponsored the club over the years.
So, he expressed his interest to them and then had to undergo nine months of interviews followed by 12 months of training in-store with no pay.
“You’ve got to learn everything from scratch,” he said.
Gidley said when he was first approved to start training he was sent to the McDonald’s in Wallsend, which is where he grew up. So naturally, it didn’t take long for people to take notice.
Gidley recalled one hilarious exchange with a Knights fan who assumed the legendary centre must have been down on his luck.
“I’m handing orders out the window and a bloke comes up in his car,” Gidley said.
“I hand him his order and he goes, ‘Are you Matt Gidley?’. I said, ‘Yeah’. He goes, ‘F***. How bad are you going?’ I had a few of those moments through the training week. Keep an eye on the bigger picture.”
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4. Mark Hughes
Hughes was quick to make an impact in his first appearance for the Knights, scoring a try in a 32-24 loss to the Gold Coast Chargers after a quick exchange of passes through the middle of the field.
By the end of that season he was playing in a grand final, starting on the wing against Manly after 10 games and at just 20 years old.
The versatile Hughes played both at wing and fullback before establishing himself in the centres, where he later became a dual premiership-winner as part of the 2001 side.
Hughes earned a State of Origin call-up that season, playing all three games of the series at fullback and went on to play 161 games for the Knights, scoring 66 tries in the process.
He later left the club in 2005 to play for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League before retiring.
While Hughes left an incredible mark on the game, his work off the field in raising funds and awareness to support brain cancer patients and their families has had an even greater impact.
Hughes was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2013 and started the Mark Hughes Foundation alongside wife Kirralee in 2014, which was also the inaugural year of Beanie for Brain Cancer round.
It is an annual fundraising event which has only gained momentum since, with over one million beanies sold.
To date the foundation has raised over $30 million and in 2022 announced a $25 million brain cancer research centre at The University of Newcastle.
5. Adam MacDougall
One of the greater post-playing career success stories.
Nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’, MacDougall launched the super successful weight-loss meal replacement The Man Shake and Lady Shake, which landed him on the Australia’s Richest 250 list with a net worth of over $635 million.
In 2022, Australian investment giant Pacific Equity Partners paid $200 million according to The Financial Review to acquire the business with MacDougall calling it a “real rags to riches story” at the time in an interview with News Corp.
It was reported in July this year that MacDougall has since bought back the company after PEP agreed terms to sell Cranky Health, the holding company for the Man Shake and Lady Shake.
“I made a mistake,” MacDougall said in a video announcing the news last month.
“I sold out to big corporate and I’m so sorry. But I’m back. When I found out the Man Shake was for sale, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again.”
On the back of the success of The Man Shake, MacDougall also released a book called The Man Plan in 2015.
MacDougall won two premierships with the Knights in 1997 and 2001 and was a constant fixture in rep circles during his playing career, playing 11 games for NSW and 11 for the Kangaroos.
He hung the boots up at the end of 2011 season after 195 NRL games for the Roosters, Knights and Rabbitohs.
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6. Sean Rudder
When Matty Johns left the Knights at the end of 2000, it left Michael Hagan looking for a new five-eighth.
So, he decided to give young local junior Sean Rudder a shot.
He may have been playing outside of Joey Johns and as a result largely faded into the background in most peoples’ memories, but Rudder stood up in the grand final.
Newcastle’s unsung hero threw the final pass on two tries in the win over Parramatta.
Rudder left the Knights to suit up for Castleford in 2004 and then Catalans, while he also had stints in Japan, France and Australia playing rugby union before he made one final NRL appearance in 2008 for the Roosters.
He later finished up playing for Newtown before calling time on his playing career in 2009 and going on to study law at the University of Newcastle while also working at Taren Point Bottle-O.
Since then, he told the Jets website in 2020 that he had moved down to Victoria with his partner.
“I’m into coffee and yoga these days,” he said at the time.
“When I went back to Newcastle after playing, I saw a physio and they said Yoga and stretching would help with the tightness in my muscles caused by footy.
“As for coffee, my partner’s brother-in-law got me into that.”
7. Andrew Johns
The legend himself.
Joey won the Clive Churchill Medal for his man of the match performance against the Eels, where he controlled things perfectly to guide Newcastle to an unassailable 24-0 halftime lead.
Parramatta fought back hard but the damage was done. Joey’s masterclass would go down in history.
Johns has since made a name for himself as a lead commentator and media personality at Channel Nine and will be part of Sunday’s grand final coverage, where he no doubt will be riding an emotional rollercoaster as he cheers on his beloved Knights.
He has also previously worked with the club as a specialist coaching consultant.
8. Josh Perry
He was the rookie on the wrong end of a Michael Hagan spray earlier in the year that left him in tears.
But for Perry, that reality check was well worth it considering his first full season in the NRL ended in premiership glory.
Perry had played just four games the season prior before being entrusted with a regular spot in Hagan’s 2001 premiership-winning side.
But after an error-riddled performance against the Tigers in Round 23, Hagan let it rip at his young prop. By the time he was done, Perry was reduced to tears.
Hagan, however, said he got the response he wanted from Perry, who started in the grand final against Parramatta and later went on to join Manly in 2008 where he started in the 40-0 shutout of Melbourne.
Perry went on to have a highly successful career, playing three State of Origin games and also representing his country before finishing up in the Super League with St Helens.
Now he is the owner and director of ByronBuilt, a company which specialises in architecturally designed homes, off-the-grid builds and select renovations in the Northern Rivers.
Perry completed an apprenticeship in 2001 and according to the ByronBuilt website is either “hands on building with the boys onsite or helping potential clients to visualise their new ByronBuilt home”.
9. Danny Buderus
2001 was a big year for Buderus, who not only started at hooker for Newcastle in the grand final win but also made his international debut for Australia against New Zealand.
Buderus went on to have a legendary career for the Knights, playing a club-record 257 games.
He didn’t get a fairytale farewell, however, knocked out cold by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in a preliminary final loss to the Roosters in 2013.
It was an unfortunate end to an accomplished career for Buderus, who naturally made the transition to coaching after retirement.
He previously stepped in as interim head coach in 2015 before moving up to become general manager of football from 2020 to 2022 and now serves as assistant coach to Justin Holbrook, expanding on existing leadership and ambassadorial responsibilities at the club.
10. Matt Parsons
Parsons made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs in 1997 and was named Dally M Prop of the Year in 1999 before moving to Newcastle in 2000.
That, of course, was largely out of his control given the Rabbitohs were removed from the competition at the end of the 1999 season.
Although Parsons later said he and Craig Wing were the only two players who had guaranteed contracts offered to them to play for South Sydney in 2000.
But one of his old trainers at the Dragons and Bunnies, Scott Campbell, had since moved to Newcastle and rang Parsons one day to say the Knights were interested.
So, he met with Newcastle in the middle of the 1999 season and signed an unofficial agreement that saw Parsons land at the Knights in 2000 and win a premiership soon after.
Parsons went on to play 164 NRL games before retiring at the end of 2004.
In an interview with Knights TV in 2018, Parsons said he started working for Carlton United Breweries in Newcastle after he finished his career before getting a job further north in Tamworth.
“At that job I was away a lot, so I gave it away and went into my own businesses,” he said.
“I’ve got a dairy farmers run, a franchise with my wife at our property, and I’m in the Newsagency with my in-laws, so I’m pretty busy.
“I grew up working all the time and only had a few years out of it while I was playing footy, so I was able to go back into work without too many issues.”
He also was involved in a coaching capacity at Werris Creek Magpies and as well as the Tamworth Thunderbolts, having also developed a love for basketball.
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11. Steve Simpson
One of the true heroes of the 2001 grand final.
Not only did he score a try but he saved one too as Andrew Ryan looked certain to score in the 26th minute, only for Simpson to desperately stop him with a sensational one-on-one tackle.
It was a crucial play in the context of the game with Newcastle leading 18-0. Instead of potentially going into halftime leading 18-6, the Knights extended the difference to 24-0 and the rest is history.
Now Simpson works as operations manager at KRH Mining Maintenance in Clarence Town, where he is responsible for recruitment, rostering, ensuring workers have the necessary equipment, PPE and uniforms, monitoring performance, and client relations.
He is also coaching the senior side at the Northern Hawks.
12. Ben Kennedy
As tough as they come, the hard-hitting forward debuted for the Raiders in 1996 before making the move to Newcastle in 2000 and played five seasons with the Knights.
He then spent another two years at Manly before retiring at the end of the 2006 season, finishing up his career on a high note after being named RLPA Player of the Year.
It capped off a dominant few years for Kennedy, who was named Dally M Lock of the Year for two-straight seasons after making the move to the middle of the park.
Kennedy scored one try in the 2001 grand final and played a role in a few others, and while he finished up at Manly before its premiership in 2008 he is credited for setting the standards that led to the Sea Eagles’ success after he hung up his boots.
Kennedy has been involved in plenty of different ventures since retiring, having bought a farm at Cedar Point while he even ran a fruit shop at one point in Queensland before returning to Newcastle as owner of the local Guzman Y Gomez in Hamilton, where he helped give away 4,000 free burritos during its grand opening in 2013.
13. Bill Peden
The Knights’ unlikely grand final hero!
The versatile Peden scored a first half double to help the Knights race out to a 24-0 half time lead.
Winning two comps in 1997 and 2001, the Cessnock product played in 190 NRL games, all for the Knights, before a short Super League stint, retiring in 2003.
Peden now works as a coal miner an hour south of Newcastle.
14. Paul Marquet
It was a fairytale finish to Marquet’s NRL career, with the veteran forward returning to the club he debuted for all the way back in 1990 and winning a premiership.
Marquet played the majority of his career at Newcastle and then had a three-year stint at Melbourne before one final season at the Knights, where he came off the bench in the 2001 grand final.
He spent a season with Warrington in the Super League before retiring and has most recently been coaching Raymond Terrace Magpies.
Marquet was a Terrace junior in the 1970s before returning in 2017 and has been coaching the A grade LLT team ever since.
15. Clinton O’Brien
O’Brien played off the bench for the Knights in the 2001 grand final, having previously represented Queensland twice in State of Origin, and later linked up with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to finish up his career in England.
O’Brien played just four games for the Wildcats before quitting the club, claiming he had “lost the motivation” to continue playing.
More recently, he worked as the head of the driving school at Men of Business Academy, which helps develop young men along the journey to manhood through role modelling and mentoring.
The driving school helps boys at the Academy who otherwise would not be able to afford lessons with driver trainers. The school averages 16 to 18 lessons a week, which equates to between 80 and 85 by the end of a term. Around 25 to 30 boys had been able to complete their 100 hours as a result of the school by March last year.
“It’s a chance for them to get a job right away,” O’Brien said at the time.
16. Glenn Grief
Grief played most of his career at the Knights, having made his Newcastle debut in 1996 before coming off the bench in the 2001 grand final win.
He then linked up with the Rabbitohs for the 2002 season, which saw them re-instated into the league, but managed just the one game — which would be his last in the NRL.
17. Daniel Abraham
Like Perry, Abraham was another one of the fresh, young forwards in the Newcastle pack that stunned Parramatta.
Abraham played six games in the 2000 season after initially earning a part-time deal with the Knights’ NRL side and while he still wasn’t a permanent fixture in 2001, he did enough to score a spot on the bench in the decider.
Now he has a premiership ring to show for it.
It did come at the expense of a teammate though, with Abraham getting the call-up after Clint Newton broke his shoulder blade.
Abraham told the Our Town Our Team podcast in 2009 that he was training three nights a week with the reserve grade side and earning maybe $50,000 with match payments of “a few grand” per game.
He went on to play another six seasons at the Knights before finishing his career at the Cowboys.
Abraham told The Newcastle Herald in late 2023 that he had enrolled in a degree in education with a focus on sports coaching at the University of Sydney.
He was overseeing the Newcastle Rebels’ first-graders at the time.
