Chief back on deck Knights legend nominates for board;; Herald. Feb 28, 2004.
FORMER Australian and Newcastle Knights captain Paul Harragon has nominated for the Knights board of directors. The Chief lodged his nomination form yesterday just before the 4pm deadline. Two other prominent league administrators, Peter Corcoran and Gerry Edser, have also nominated for election.
Chairman Michael Hill and sitting directors Ron Robson, Mike Nesbitt, Allan McKeown and Mike Tyler nominated for re-election. The ballot will be declared at the Knights' annual general meeting on April 7. Harragon was a Knights original when the club was formed in 1988. He played 169 first-grade matches and scored 21 tries before retiring in 1999 after leading the club to premiership victory in 1997. He captained the Knights in 71 matches from 1995 until his retirement.
In addition, Harragon captained Australia in the World Cup and wore the green-and-gold 14 times as well as playing 17 State of Origin matches and five representative games for Country. "I have a desire to stay involved with the Knights," Harragon said yesterday. "In the past it has been restricted by time with the fact I have a very young family. But I have decided along with Pam that the time is right for me to be back involved with the club at board level. I have an intense position with the media work and endorsements during the season, but it tends to balance out when the season finishes and I am freed up."
Corcoran had one term as a Knights director in 2001 when the club won the first-grade premiership before being voted off the following year. He is presently the ARL national education manager and last December was elected a life member of the NSWRL. He was awarded an OAM in 1988.
"I believe my experience in sports administration, especially rugby league, and business would be invaluable for the Knights," Corcoran said. Edser was a Newcastle Rugby League selector when he and Leigh Maughan first discussed getting a Newcastle-based side in the Sydney premiership in the early 1980s. They invited Hill to lunch at the Squids Ink at Belmont and set the idea in motion. Edser left real estate to become corporate affairs manager at the Knights then marketing manager before moving to Newcastle United Soccer Club in the same position. He returned to real estate last year.
"My heart has always been in the club since Leigh and I decided we had to do something to stop the flow of Newcastle and Coalfields players to the Sydney clubs," Edser, a foundation member, said yesterday. That was back in the early 1980s, but this is the first time I have stood as a director."
Knights CEO Ken Conway said ballot papers would be forwarded to all members eligible to vote next month. It will be the first time members of the failed Newcastle Knights Leagues Club at Adamstown, who had their memberships transferred to the Knights Supporters Club, will be eligible to vote.

Knights members welcome Chief back on board - Newcastle Herald, 8 April 2004
Premiership winning Newcastle Knights captain Paul Harragon and Andrew Johns were the big winners at the clubs annual general meeting at Western Suburbs Leagues Club last night. Harragon was elected in place of Ron Robson in the only change to the board of directors. The 35 year old former NSW and australian front rower joined Chairman Michael HIll, Deputy Chairman Mike Tyler, long serving director Mike Nesbitt and second year director Allan McKeown on the board for 2004. Harragon was elected at his first attempt and said he was pleased to again be directly involved with the club he played 169 first grade games for between 1988 and 1999.  Johns, who like Harragon has also captained Australia, was awardedd life membership as recognition for playing 200 first grade games for the Knights. But the 29 year old halfback could not attend the presentation at last nights meeting because he has been hospitalised since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery in Sydney last Friday.

Chief set to kick off radio career; Herald. May 15, 2004.
FORMER Knights captain Paul Harragon will make his radio commentary debut tonight when he joins Craig Hamilton in the 1e ABC box to call the Sharks-Roosters game from Toyota Park. Hamilton said Harragon had been keen to give broadcasting a go and he had the blessing of his employers at Channel Nine. Meanwhile, Hamilton is expected to fill in for regular commentator David Morrow for the ABC match of the day each Saturday and Sunday when Morrow heads to Athens for the Olympic Games. A visit from first-grade coach Michael Hagan and injured captain Andrew Johns did the trick for Newcastle's Premier League team last Sunday. After their embarrassing 26-12 loss to Souths the previous week, the Knights were in last place heading into their game against the Bulldogs at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Hagan spoke to the players at training in the lead-up to the Bulldogs game, and Johns did some work with the players and coach Mal Graham. The side responded by thumping the fifth-placed Dogs 34-22. The Knights play Balmain in Premier League and Jersey Flegg (under 20s) today at Leichhardt Oval.

Get the Chief now - Harragon tipped as next Country coach; Sunday Telegraph. Jun 6, 2004.
INSPIRATIONAL former Newcastle premiership-winning captain Paul Harragon has emerged as the early favourite to replace Ricky Stuart as Country Origin coach next season. Stuart had been guaranteed the job again after plotting Country's win over City this season but will relinquish the position following his appointment as NSW Origin coach. Harragon is the strong tip to take over. He has been assistant to Stuart and Brian Smith with the Country side over the past three seasons and has been in charge of the Country sevens team for two years. He is outspokenly passionate about the Country jumper and is highly thought of in the right places within Country's administration. The fact he does not have previous long-term coaching experience is unlikely to go against him.
Asked about Harragon's chances, CRL general manager Terry Quinn said he will come under strong consideration. "I haven't spoken to `Chief' about it yet because Ricky has only just been appointed to the NSW job but I will be," Quinn said. "Chief was in the frame before Ricky agreed to coach our side this year and he has now had three seasons in the assistant's role."
Harragon said coaching Country Origin would be a "massive honour" if he was given the opportunity. "I have always been passionate about country footy and I would love the chance to coach the Origin side," Harragon said. 
NEWCASTLE referee John Taylor's decision to turn his back on the National Rugby League has paid dividends. Taylor was earning good money as a regular first-grade touch judge in the NRL last season before being told he would have to give up country refereeing to fully commit himself.
He went the other way and pulled the pin on the NRL. His appointment to the AAMI Country Divisional Championships final between Western Division and Monaro in Bathurst yesterday was just reward. He is recognised as the premier referee in NSW Country.

It's pungent ... the smell of a stale format -  19 March, 2005
The poo was the problem, The Chief concluded. Paul Harragon was analysing Craig McLachlan's stage death on the previous week's Footy Show.  "I had a look over the video and tried to work out the turning point from when it was going good to when it sort of dropped off," Harragon told Fatty, Sterlo and Matty on Thursday night's show, after a replay of highlights from McLachlan's stand-up routine. "I thought that bloke in the crowd got him. When he said, 'What's worse than poo?' and the bloke goes, 'You are', that was a big turning point. [McLachlan] came back, though, and said, 'No, other people's poo', and the bloke come back and said, 'No, you are' ... That was tough."
After watching this week's show - and inspecting the ratings yesterday morning - I only have one thing to say: no, you are, Chief. And Fatty. And Matty. And even you, Sterlo.  Harragon could have been analysing The Footy Show itself. After a 12-year run, Nine's once all-conquering show is in deep poo.  On Thursday I watched the boys on the telly upstairs while my wife watched Seven's The Amazing Race downstairs. It was pretty lonely on Nine's airwaves.About 40,000 Sydney viewers abandoned The Footy Show this week. Another 18,000 tuned out in Brisbane. Only 272,054 Sydney viewers sat through the show. In the mid-1990s, The Footy Show attracted half-a-million weekly viewers and spiked as high as 640,000 during the funny bits. Only the ABC and SBS had fewer viewers on Thursday night. The Amazing Race also lost viewers, but still whipped The Footy Show, as did Ten's Medical Investigation.
The Best of The Footy Show was one of last year's top-selling DVDs, but if the first of this year's shows is anything to go by, the producers will be scratching to fill a DVD with the "best" of 2005.  With the exception of Daredevil Dudes in New Zealand (Fatty and Sterlo mouthing obscenities during a bungee jump was priceless), the new segments (Luke Ricketson showing baby photos to Ryan Girdler) are boring, and the old ones are, well, getting old (more Bulldogs rappers on No Talent Time Gold).  "It's a simple case of watching it till Reg's rant comes on, then switching it off," said Mayfan on an online forum. "It's that bad these days."
"As subtle and clever as a fresh dog turd on a dinner plate," said Djbobbit on another forum. "I turned it off before [McLachlan]," said Pacemaker. "Must say, though, the show was absolute crap last night, you would think the boys would be reasonably fresh after their lay-off but it was totally stale."
What's going on?  It couldn't be McLachlan's bad-taste comments. The likes of Ron Casey and Rex Mossop were regular guests in the show's early days.  "I had to give my wife a belting after the game, I gave her a thump in the ribs," said Moose on his Controversy Corner segment in 1993. "They don't bruise there you know, and you can do it with impunity."
The show shortly moved to prime time, where Greg "Fat Cat" Ritchie's Mahatma Cote caused more uproar - and more upward ratings.  The show's woes couldn't concern animal cruelty. Last week viewers complained after a huge python thudded to the studio floor after Steve Irwin wrapped the reptile around Fatty's neck. But that's nothing compared to a 1996 show in which a pair of Shetland ponies crashed to the bitumen while hauling newsreader Sharon Ghidella in a celebrity buggy race around Nine's Willoughby car park. More than 530,000 viewers tuned in that night. The show was once successful because, as chick lit author Nikki Gemmell wrote in the Herald in 1995, it was "vulgar, rude, wildly sexist and full of boasting ..."
Perhaps after 12 years - in this age of the metrosexual - it's time to move on. "I don't know if The Footy Show has got a shelf life ... I might disappear in three years' time," said Fatty in 1996. "If it all stops one day - and I'm sure it will - then, hey, I can say I've had a good time."  And so have we, Fatty. But perhaps it's time.

Harragon adamant Knights not for sale - Herald. Apr 2, 2005.
FORMER Newcastle Knights captain and current board member Paul Harragon yesterday ruled out any talk of privatisation of the NRL club. Harragon said privatisation had never been discussed during his time as a board member despite the acute financial position of the club. "And I would not expect it to be on the agenda," he said. The former Knights, NSW and Australian captain said his comments about the rejuvenation of the club after the announcement that Michael Hill would not seek re-election as chairman did not mean any new direction. Hill, the chairman in 1992-93 and again since 1997, announced at the club's final board meeting last Wednesday night he would not seek the chairmanship if he was again elected to the board. Hill, deputy chairman Mike Tyler, Harragon, and Allan McKeown are seeking re-election and former board members Ron Robson and Peter Corcoran are also contesting the ballot for the five positions. Long-serving board member Mike Nesbitt did not seek re-election. Voting for the board closes on Monday and the results will be announced at the annual meeting on Wednesday. The chairman will be decided at the first meeting of the new board.
Harragon said the existing financial worries mean the club must look at a new approach for the long-term viability of the club. "We are looking at new people and new ideas, not privatisation," he said. Harragon said it was a positive for the club that Hill had decided to still seek re-election on the board of directors. "It is a win-win situation that Michael wants to stay on the board as a member where we can use all his experience and knowledge," Harragon said. Robson, who had two terms on the board before losing out in the last election, said he hoped the full board would play a bigger role in the running of the club if he won back his position.
"The Knights need the board to work as a team and play a far bigger role in running the club," Robson said. "I would certainly try and bring a fresh approach into the boardroom to win back the confidence of the club members."
Corcoran, who challenged Hill for the chairmanship four years ago in his first term before losing his seat, said he was worried that the Knights had lost more than 1500 members in the last year and that only around 10 to 12 per cent voted in the annual election. The Knights annual report showed membership had dropped from 7696 to 6129 at the end of the 2004 financial year on December 31. He said falls of 15 per cent in sponsorship and grants and 38 per cent on merchandise sales were also a worry.

Candid comment; Paul Harragon; Herald. Apr 2, 2005. 
Q: Chief, I reckon most of Newcastle gets a kick out of your Daredevil Dudes work. Run us through your recent experiences bungee jumping and canyoning in New Zealand.
A: After I'd just done the bungee jump, the highest in the Southern Hemisphere, I was walking on water. I walked up to this thing which was only a 70- or 80-metre drop then a big swing across the canyon, compared to the 140-metre bungee jump. I'm rocking up, having a good time with the boys, goofing off as usual. When I saw the way they started to fall, pushing them off in chairs and all the carry-on . . . mate, the old fear came flooding back with double velocity. I was totally beside myself. To have a go at me they did this thing called The Gimp, where you hang upside down by the feet. For a guy who's got a problem with heights it's absolute torture.

Q: How did you bring yourself to do it? Looks like the old competitive spirit is alive and well.
A: It's amazing what peer pressure will do. To be honest I don't remember jumping off. I do remember cracking the big smile when I knew it was over. This is how in-depth I had to go to do it I had to convince the executive part of my brain to override every cell in my body telling me not to do it. I did that by getting every bit of information I could. I tortured these guys.

Q: I can't remember you ever dogging a Daredevil Dudes segment.
A: I've eventually done them all, but only just. Sterlo [Peter Sterling] acts like a tough guy, like nothing's ever a problem, but what you don't know is he vetoed the whitewater rafting when we were in New Zealand. Fatty [Paul Vautin] has vetoed the skydiving. Matty [Johns] foams at the mouth around snakes.

Q: What's the next challenge?
A: We've got some good stuff coming up. It looks like we're locked in to cage dive with white pointers in South Australia in the next two or three weeks. I enjoy the stuff with the water, although I did get attacked by a massive manta ray when we did a segment at Manly Aquarium. He must have smelled the fear. The big fella hovered right down and sucked on me.

A: Feel nice?
Q: Not too bad thanks.

Rep footy head start -  April 29, 2005 
PROUD country boy Paul Harragon admits he wept when he won, then lost, his first representative jersey. "I got my first opportunity to play for Country in 1991. I think I was 19 and I had to pull out with a knee injury," Harragon recalls. I couldn't have been any more disappointed. I don't mind saying I was crying. It meant a great deal to me."   That much was evident when "The Chief" finally donned the maroon and gold jersey of Country Origin a season later. Stepping into a side containing Laurie Daley, Glenn Lazarus and Brad Clyde, the passionate young Harragon played the house down, scoring two tries in a man-of-the-match performance. It was the representative debut of a man who would dominate Test and Origin football for the next decade. On the strength of his performance that night, Harragon selected himself in the NSW team and never left. "Playing for Country was something I will always be enormously proud of and thankful for," Harragon says. Next Friday the annual clash between the bushies and the city slickers kicks off in Lismore and more than bragging rights are up for grabs.  After this weekend's round, in-form players from the NRL will be divided down city and country lines and thrust into an audition for further rep honours. Unlike the recent Test against New Zealand, incumbency will mean little when selectors choose final squads on Sunday.  As seen in the examples of Harragon and a host of others, history shows a City-Country berth can provide a chance to emerge from the pack and enter the elite world of rep footy. "Rep football is different to club football. You're playing outside your comfort zone, suddenly playing with blokes you're not familiar with, you haven't met before," says former Country, NSW and Australia player Matt Johns. "You have to get your preparation right in a short time and come up and play well. Some guys struggle to pick it up straight away. It took me four or five games. This is the game that's a great stepping stone for blokes to prove they're more than decent club players, they can play rep football as well." 
Harragon and Johns, now assistants to Country coach Craig Bellamy, nominate former Bulldogs prop Dean Pay as a classic example of a solid club player who, after five years of grade, was given a chance in the traditional clash and launched a stellar rep career in 1994. "Dean was never that great athletic type, but he was tough as teak. He showed he could lift himself for the big game. He went on to be a great NSW and Australian player," Johns says. 
Paul McGregor, "picked from nowhere at the Steelers", was another unheralded centre who used City-Country to announce his great talent, Johns said. More recently, he traces the near Test selection of Storm centre Matt King back to his Country debut in Gosford last year. 
"He was only out there for 20 minutes before he got injured but he looked comfortable, he didn't look out of his depth. Since then he has gone from strength to strength." 

Chief takes charge of ailing Knights; Townsville Bulletin. Jun 9, 2005.
FORMER Newcastle premiership-winning captain Paul Harragon was yesterday put in charge of retooling the Knights National Rugby League playing roster following the resignation of football manager Mark Sargent. Harragon and Knights media manager Stephen Crowe will jointly fill the role of football manager from Monday, with a decision on a fulltime replacement for Sargent to be made at a later date. Sargent walked out on the Knights on Tuesday night, sinking the club to an all-time low. They are still without a win this season, without a major sponsor, and now without a football manager. "Newcastle Knights are going through an unprecedented tough time on and off the field, but that's all part of the game," Harragon said yesterday. "When it is tough like that, it's when you want to be involved."
Sargent and Knights coach Michael Hagan were hauled before the club's board on Monday night following the duo's comments that the Knights would perish without improved staff resources and player facilities. The Knights are currently without a fulltime physiotherapist and rehabilitation officer to help treat injured players due to a lack of funds.

Knights rally to Chief's war cry; Harragon's speech inspires Newcastle; Herald. Aug 15, 2005.
A PRE-GAME history lesson from premiership-winning former captain Paul Harragon inspired Newcastle to a grinding 22-14 victory over mortal enemies Manly at a packed EnergyAustralia Stadium yesterday. A capacity crowd of 26,115 a new record for the reconfigured home ground cheered the Knights to a fourth consecutive victory. Newcastle (16 points) are still favourites to finish last because Souths (19) upset Canberra 29-16 and Penrith (20) picked up two points from the bye. But the wooden-spoon race was a minor sub-plot to yesterday's main event, which was as gripping and gritty as some of the epic Newcastle-Manly battles of yore. Harragon addressed the players at their regular pre-training video session on Saturday morning, reminding them of some of the classic contests waged in the past 18 years. Of the 17 players used yesterday, skipper Andrew Johns was the only survivor from the team Harragon captained to victory in the 1997 grand final.
Most of the squad had only ever experienced the rivalry as spectators, but Harragon could not have been prouder of their efforts yesterday.
"A lot of the old boys were here watching today and I'm sure they got a real buzz out of that game," Harragon said. "I've been retired a long time and I don't get too excited about individual games, but I've been looking forward to this all week and it lived up to all expectations. The boys were wounded and we had plenty of blokes out, but they showed a lot of guts and character and upheld the values that have made this club what it is."
Newcastle pack leader Craig Smith was knocked out by a Steve Matai high tackle in the 10th minute but fellow front-rowers Adam Woolnough and Dan Tolar picked up the slack, and Smith returned to produce another whole-hearted performance. "Chief's not shy about pouring his heart out," Woolnough said.
"I'm sure everyone remembers the battles we've had with Manly, but to have him there in person telling you what it was like, it struck a chord with a lot of blokes and it definitely fired up the forwards. "With Smithy going down early, I thought I had to dig in and do a bit extra, then Dan came on and did a great job."
Lock Todd Lowrie said: "It fired a few of the boys up and that showed today. It was a classic old-school game of footy and I'm sure we'll feel it in the morning."
After racing to an 8-0 lead after six minutes, Newcastle invited Manly back into the game with some sloppy handling. The Sea Eagles capitalised with three tries in eight minutes to lead 14-8 at the break. A Brad Tighe try after lead-up by Johns and Danny Buderus cut the deficit to 14-12 in the 43rd minute. The Knights should have hit the front four minutes later but video referee Steve Carrall denied Milton Thaiday a try. Manly winger Chris Hicks spilled a Johns bomb and Thaiday picked up the scraps to touch down in the corner but after several replays, Carrall ruled Hicks had been taken out mid-air by Knights winger Anthony Quinn.
"I'm glad it didn't come down to that, to be honest, because I didn't see a whole lot wrong with it," Newcastle coach Michael Hagan said.
The second half settled into trench warfare until Johns stepped past Sam Harris from close range to put the Knights in front 18-14 in the 66th minute.
Newcastle winger Trent Salkeld put the issue beyond doubt with an opportunist's try five minutes from time, kicking ahead a loose Michael Monaghan pass intended for Ben Kennedy and racing through to score. Although he has played only 13 of Newcastle's 21 games this year, Johns is understood to be right in the mix to win a fourth Dally M Medal, but he was not at the peak of his powers yesterday. Yet an "out of sorts" Johns still produced the go-ahead try at a critical stage of the second half and created two of their three others.

Comical Knights need a Chief; The Daily Telegraph. Mar 8, 2006.
PAUL Harragon stood for everything that was Newcastle when he played. Loyal as a drover's dog, he had the coal dust spirit, the venom in the belly that is the identity of the town. It is large comfort, then, that Harragon is part of a Newcastle football committee charged with finding the replacement coach for Michael Hagan. So far the Knights have been all high comedy in their bid to sign Hagan's successor, blundering through one candidate after another. They had Matthew Elliott and then wanted Tim Sheens; they lost Sheens and subsequently Elliott; they were not interested in Brian Smith when he was available in November but now, embarrassed and stuck for an answer, they are. Most troubling throughout all these hi-jinks is that the board has acted in ways you don't often associate with Newcastle. They have pulled in different directions, and were hesitant with each step. Nobody could keep their mouth shut, and leaks have followed leaks.
The integrity of Newcastle in the past has always been their strength to pull together, often against the odds. They pride themselves on being solid. A phrase high in the vernacular of their language. Where the blame lies for the club's foul-up is not certain. What matters is where the club goes from here. Knowing Harragon, he couldn't be part of this pantomime, which makes him their saviour. The two candidates seemingly left are Smith, the outgoing Parramatta coach, and David Fairleigh, the Premier League coach. If the vote comes down to Harragon, which it could, or if the board remembers its roots, which it must, then you would have to believe that Fairleigh will be the upset choice. He represents the values that Newcastle hold important; that Harragon has lived by. The problem is that Newcastle seem to be approaching a misguided ying-and-yang approach to their coaching. After the high-intensity, scorched-earth policy of Warren Ryan, the Knights believed Hagan's mate-next-door personality was the appropriate next step. Hagan obligingly won a premiership his first year. Now that Hagan is moving on, the Knights believe a return to the high intensity is the natural progression. They do not realise there is an alternative, presently coaching Premier League. 

Unit a chief option, with a Twist; Herald. Apr 22, 2006.
PAUL Harragon has listed for sale his Honeysuckle Boardwalk retail unit, leased to the popular Twist Cafe-Bar, for $975,000. Listing agent Adam Leacy of Colliers International said the price was based on the cafe signing a five-year lease last month, with a three by five-year option, and the yield expected on $60,000 net rent. He said the yield was comparable to the 6.4 per cent achieved on the auction sale in December of half of the space leased to Silo restaurant.
Bought for $436,000 plus GST a couple of years ago by solicitor Mark Hickey, the Silo space sold under the hammer last year for $803,000. Twist is owned by hotelier Hugh Halpin, who also bought what he claims is the best restaurant in Newcastle, The Brewery Restaurant, in January. Formerly owned by Queens Wharf Brewery publican Ian Burford and chef Elizabeth Box, The Brewery Restaurant relocated from Queens Wharf to the Boardwalk in 2004. Ms Box has stayed on at The Brewery Restaurant as manager. Former Newcastle Knight Mr Harragon and his wife Pam were original partners in Twist, but sold out eight months ago. 

Chief's call to arms - Knights Crisis; Put it to the members, says club legend - Herald. Feb 2, 2007.
KNIGHTS legend Paul Chief Harragon has launched an impassioned plea to the rugby league clubs 8000 members to help resolve the board split that has
cast the organisation into crisis. In a statement last night, the former Knights captain (pictured) called on members to exercise their democratic right following
the boardroom coup that toppled chairman Mike Tyler. Unfortunately, we have reached a situation whereby the directors not elected by our membership are in control of the club, Harragon said. This means that the democratic will of our members has been denied. We need our members to be able to say who they want to run the club. Harragons statement followed one of the most tumultuous days in the clubs 20-year history. It began on Wednesday night when five Knights directors, including the four appointed by the Newcastle Rugby League, backed a vote of no confidencein Mr Tyler, who resigned. The board split intensified into
a war of words yesterday. The Knights board, under acting chairman Peter Corcoran, said directors were divided over the clubs future direction. A decision was made to ensure the Newcastle Knights remain a community-owned asset, the board said. But elected directors Harragon, Mark Fitzgibbon and Allan McKeown issued a separate statement slamming the appointed directors for exercising power as a caucus. This situation effectively removes the power of the ordinary
members of the Newcastle Knights Football Club, which we believe is to the detriment of the club as it attempts to restructure its operations to a more secure
position, the trio said. Harragon said last night that Knights members had to decide who they wanted in control. To have two Newcastle Rugby League directors who are not accountable and are not elected by our members might be reasonable but four is fundamentally wrong, he said. It would be a travesty to let this
situation continue any longer. It is an issue on which I am willing to stake my reputation as a servant of the club.