Hill backs Hagan as Qld coach -  20 September 2003
Newcastle chairman Michael Hill said he would be delighted if Michael Hagan accepted the job of Queensland State of Origin rugby league coach.  It was reported this week that Wayne Bennett planned to step down from the position to concentrate on rebuilding the Brisbane Broncos.  Bennett is yet to announce a decision but Hagan, who was Maroons assistant coach this year when NSW won the series 2-1, is a hot favourite to fill the void.  It'd be an honour for him and that would reflect well on us as a football club. Penrith mentor John Lang and Canberra's Matthew Elliott have also been mentioned as candidates.  Hill is fully aware of the drain placed on a club when the coach is away on representative duties but he has no problem with Hagan replacing Bennett.  "That's something that he'll deal with when he gets asked (but) I'd be more than happy," Hill told radio station 2SM.  It'd be an honour for him and that would reflect well on us as a football club. There are some issues for him. As long as he realises how much it takes out of the football team...and it's an onerous job. "But if he wants it we'll support him. Who knows? One day he could be Australian coach and it (the Maroons job) could be a step along the way." 

Hagan replaces Bennett -  31 October, 2003 
Newcastle's Michael Hagan will replace Brisbane's Wayne Bennett as Queensland State of Origin coach. Queensland Rugby League managing director Ross Livermore said Bennett had informed the board he could not accept the invitation to coach the Maroons in 2004. Livermore said Hagan - who acted as Bennett's assistant in this year's Origin series - had accepted the invitation to coach Queensland next year. The 39-year-old Hagan said it was a "massive honour" to be asked to take on the job. "I felt very privileged to be asked and I can't thank the QRL enough for the invitation," Hagan told AAP.
"I also can't thank Newcastle enough for allowing me to take up this opportunity. I've been talking to the club for a couple of weeks now and they have been very supportive."
He said Queensland's 36-6 win in game three this year was a tremendous launching pad for the 2004 campaign. "There's a lot of good young players coming through for Queensland and there's plenty to look forward to over the next couple of years," he said. "It was important for Queensland, and for Origin football in general, that Queensland was able to bounce back like that."
Hagan played five games for Queensland in 1989-1990 and led the Knights to the NRL premiership in 2001 in his first year as a senior coach. Livermore said the QRL Board was delighted that Hagan had accepted the invitation and thanked Newcastle chairman Michael Hill and club directors for allowing the former Knights captain to take-up the offer. Newcastle acting chief executive Stephen Crowe said the club strongly endorsed Hagan's appointment. He said the club was "very, very proud" of Hagan's elevation to the representative coaching ranks and said the Queensland coaching position was a "fantastic opportunity".  He said the matter was discussed at a Newcastle board meeting earlier in the week and Hagan had the full support of the club. "We know he is a very proud Queenslander and we know how much he has enjoyed being a part of the State of Origin camps over the past couple of years," Crowe said.

Off-seasonal adjustments - Newcastle Herald,  08/11/2003
WALKING off a sun-soaked EnergyAustralia Stadium after what turned out to be the Knights' penultimate training session of the season, Michael Hagan could not help but notice the gorgeous September weather. ``Semi-finals, spring in the air, what a great time of year," the coach remarked to a handful of onlookers watching his players stretch down. ``But not much fun if your season's over and you're watching other blokes going around in the semis."
The fun, and the season, was over three days later, courtesy of a 36-8 touch-up by the Sydney Roosters in a qualifying final at Aussie Stadium. The same team ended Newcastle's season at the same venue one year earlier not the only similarities to that campaign. Just like the previous year, when they were defending a premiership, the Knights limped into the finals and were quickly dispatched once they got there. Andrew Johns, their inspirational and influential captain, managed a few minutes of the 2002 finals before a stray knee broke three bones in his back. Johns was gone a month before the end of the regular season this time around, succumbing to a bulging disc in his neck. At least the Knights learnt to play and win without him but they missed his invaluable input when it mattered and their inconsistent, injury-plagued season did not afford them the luxury of a loss in the finals. Too many key players were busted playing hurt or not playing at all and what was left was not up to the standard set on a regular basis by the likes of the Sydney Roosters and premiers Penrith. ``There was certainly more than a touch of deja vu about it," said Hagan, whose Christmas wish this year is for a healthy squad for longer periods in 2004. I don't think any of us were happy about watching other teams going around, which is positive. How happy you are with what you've achieved depends on where you set the bar."InjuriesExperienced backs Adam MacDougall and Mark Hughes were still recovering from knee reconstructions when the Knights kicked off the 2003 season with a 36-26 win over the Warriors.
Other fringe players were also convalescing after off-season surgery then pack leaders Matt Parsons and Ben Kennedy suffered injuries in the season-opener to add their names to the sick list. ``I don't think we have fielded our best football team since Adam MacDougall hurt his knee against the Roosters [on April 12] last year," Hagan said. ``I know you can't aspire to do that very often but I can't ever recall a more difficult 18 months from an injury-management point of view. We probably had eight or 10 players have post-season surgery at the end of last year and we had five players unavailable at the start of this year so I don't think we ever really recovered from that. That was then compounded when we lost BK and Parso in round one, which took us to seven [players unavailable]. That was fairly typical of the year."Representative seasonEven with the benefit of hindsight, Hagan wonders how he could have better managed the wear and tear on Newcastle's senior players. 
Johns and hooker Danny Buderus played five extra games for Australia, NSW and Country, Matt Gidley, Timana Tahu, Kennedy and Josh Perry joined them for all or part of the Origin series, and Tahu, Kennedy, Perry and Daniel Abraham were their Country teammates. ``If you break our year down, I think we won six of nine at the start which was probably what we had expected or hoped to achieve at that point," he said. ``We then won three from the next nine, then finished with five from our last six, so there's no question that the middle part of our year was the most difficult. That was a fairly crucial part of the program from a point of view of finishing in a better position on the table. We knew that going in and even if we had our time over again, it's difficult to know how to manage that better again given the lack of players we had on deck for long periods."
Hagan was criticised for not resting an exhausted Johns and Buderus from a 29-16 home loss to Penrith on July 18 two days after Origin III.
The coach copped it again a week later for excusing them from the trip to Campbelltown two days after the Trans-Tasman Test. Without Johns and Buderus, and others either injured or suspended, the Knights were humiliated 52-12 by Wests Tigers. Brisbane, who provided the bulk of Queensland's Origin roster, were similarly disadvantaged and scraped into eighth place on the back of a club-record losing streak. But the Roosters navigated the representative minefield and won enough games to finish second, despite a heavy workload on the likes of Anthony Minichiello, Craig Wing, Luke Ricketson and Craig Fitzgibbon. Hagan said the Roosters enjoyed several luxuries, including the fact their most valuable player, skipper Brad Fittler, had left the Origin and Test arena. Fittler and halfback Brett Finch missed only three games between them. ``That left them two very dominant people running their football team, and the quality of the Roosters' depth was better than any other teams at this point," Hagan said. The representative season will be even more of a burden next year when Hagan, who assisted Wayne Bennett this year, takes over from the legendary Broncos boss as Queensland's State of Origin coach.Andrew JohnsKurt Gidley's performances in the No. 7 jersey in the final month of the season and the acquisition of Steve Witt from Parramatta will give Hagan more options when Johns misses games next year.
Provided he makes a full recovery from his neck injury, Johns is still troubled by a chronic groin problem, turns 30 next May, and will again be taxed to the max by representative selectors. Circumstances did not allow Hagan to selectively rest his skipper this year as planned but that situation could change. ``I don't know if you can manage or plan for the injuries he's suffered at the back-end of the last two years," Hagan said. ``Broken bones in your back is hardly a common injury and the neck injury that forced him out this year, it might have come over a period of weeks or it might have been caused by a collision. We just have to keep working through that with him his management of injuries and his body. The same goes for BK [Kennedy]. Of the 24 games we played, he played 12 of those and probably only felt great in one or two. It's difficult to assess our year when that was the type of season he had.ImprovementThe Knights were off the pace defensively this year and were not consistently competitive enough away from their EnergyAustralia Stadium comfort zone.
Hagan and his staff have performed the necessary post-mortem, including input from the players, to highlight where they need to get better in 2004. ``We're probably one of the few teams to have beaten New Zealand home and away, and they reached the second-last week of the season," he said. ``We beat Canterbury at home in round five when we were reasonably healthy, and that was one of our best performances at home this year, and we weren't far away with the 14-10 loss to the Roosters in round two. There were enough indications there that when we were doing things well and were reasonably healthy that we could compete more than capably against the top teams. But consistently over the year, we certainly weren't able to generate the same performances as the teams that were still left in it at the end."
Hagan acknowledged the need to start matching the defensive intensity of a trend-setting team like the Roosters, which Penrith did on grand final night to lift the Telstra Premiership trophy. ``There's no question that they have increased the level from an intensity point of view ... so they are certainly the benchmark for how teams defend," he said.  ``Their line speed is very good, they're very aggressive, their kick-chase is relentless, so there's no question we can certainly improve that part of our defensive effort."
Highlights An upside to the injury toll was the fast-tracking of some of Newcastle's most promising juniors and blue-collar lower-graders, and Hagan hopes they reap the benefits of that experience next season. Surprise packets Craig Hall (18 games) and Andrew Price (13) were among 10 debutants and Hagan could not have been happier with the progress of Abraham, Kurt Gidley and Anthony Quinn.  ``Kurt's year was outstanding, given the fact he had to play halfback, five-eighth and centre, and handled it pretty well even when we were struggling at times," he said. ``Luke Quigley played one game last year so he had a massive year by his standards, playing 20 or so games. Reegan Tanner was our under-20s player of the year last year and has now played a dozen first-grade games and coped pretty well with it. Matt Kennedy played 15 games or so, which is probably 15 games in front of where we thought he might have been, and Todd Lowrie played six games to realise some of the hopes we had for him. All of that is very positive for our program and the process."
Of the senior players, he said Johns and Buderus stood out and Matt Gidley whose only missed game was a compulsory Origin stand-down had arguably the most consistent year of his career. Once Johns was reduced to spectator status, Buderus filled the breach as on-field leader and go-to man and he and Simpson were Newcastle's only representatives on the Kangaroo tour. Fairly or otherwise, final impressions last longest and the Knights will be remembered for their first-half no-show against the Roosters in the qualifying final. But, with the necessary adjustments and improvements in the off-season, Hagan sees enough positive signs to convince him the Knights are capable of being back on the top shelf next year. ``As disappointing as the last performance was certainly the first 40 minutes of that was our worst performance in a number of weeks, given how the team had been playing up until that time we were still good enough to make the eight," he said.
``Six weeks out we had a bit of pressure on us, and we were without Andrew for four of those, which can't be under-estimated, so that still said a fair bit about the character of the football team. If we can get everyone healthy, manage their injuries and get a decent off-season in, there's nothing to say we can't improve a fair bit on what we did this year. There were enough indications that when we were doing things well and were reasonably healthy we could compete more than capably against the top teams."

Coaches Update - Michael Hagan -  Tuesday, 16 December 2003 - Newcastle Knights
Like many businesses, the Newcastle Knights have established a reputation for delivering a successful team both on and off the field.  It is fair to say that the achievements of the team in 2003 were overshadowed by the disappointments that were encountered along the way in what became a very long and arduous season.  The physical and mental demands being placed on our players are increasing rapidly as we try to keep pace with the other 14 teams in the NRL premiership.  Added to this is the representative campaign and the incredible intensity at which the players play at this level.  While not offering excuses, whether we like it or not, the number and severity of injuries suffered and representative commitments did have an adverse effect on our year.  A review of our year in the football department has provided the club with plenty of food for thought and helped us come up with some strategies that may assist us during this difficult period next year.  These include a renewed focus on the management and rehabilitation of injuries and the key area of player recruitment. 
Achievements 2003 -  Here are a few of the highlights as I saw them for 2003: 
Certainly a real highlight was the fantastic victory over the Broncos in Brisbane for the first time in the club’s history at the opening of the spectacular Suncorp Stadium.  Beating the highly fancied Warriors both home and away. 
Our win over Canterbury at home in round five when we were reasonably healthy, was, I thought, one of our best performances at home this year. Close behind that was our 14-10 loss to the Roosters in round two. 
Player of the year was the incomparable Danny Buderus 
Players’ player was Daniel Abraham who was simply outstanding all year 
And the Coach’s award went to Kurt Gidley who also made a real name for himself in 2003. 
Ten players made their first grade debut – some kind of club record! We also saw the emergence of talent such as: Craig, Regan Tanner, Matt Kennedy, Luke Quigley, Todd Lowrie and Andrew Price. And the improvement of slightly more senior players including Daniel Abraham (Country Origin), Anthony Quinn, Kurt Gidley and Josh Perry (NSW). All of these players will be better for this year’s experience and benefit of a fulltime pre-season program. We also once again saw a host of our players in the season’s representative games (which is both a boon and a challenge for the club) Another positive was winning three of our last four games without Andrew Johns – winning % without Andrew for the year was 57% (four wins, from 7 games), as opposed to 37% in previous years. Importantly, we retained the nucleus of our team, including our forward pack which was very important to the immediate future of the football team. 
Disappointments: Obviously the poor performance in the last game of the year against the Roosters in the first semi-final. 
Injuries have been well documented and we seem to be a lot healthier this year, than we were at the same time last year. Certainly, it has been a difficult 18 months from an injury management point of view. Our away form was poor including a couple of humiliating losses against Canterbury and Wests Tigers. 
Improvement: When I’m asked where we can improve, here are a number of areas I would nominate: There is no question the team needs to start matching the defensive intensity of a trend-setting team like the Roosters, which Penrith did on grand final night to lift the Telstra Premiership trophy. The Roosters have increased the level from an intensity point of view... so they are certainly the benchmark for how teams defend. We understand the need to make the necessary adjustments and improvements in the off-season to improve our performance. If we can get everyone healthy, manage their injuries and get a decent off-season in, there's nothing to say we can't improve a fair bit on what we did this year.'' 
Expectation for 2004: Here’s what I expect from the team this year:  Improved attitude, better performance and some new faces are things we can look forward to in 2004. Test players – Andrew Johns, Matt Gidley, Ben Kennedy and Timana Tahu (while disappointed at missing the Kangaroo Tour) should come back physically and mentally refreshed. New faces including: Steve Witt (halfback/ five-eighth from Parramatta), Jamie Fitzgerald (utility, Souths), Russell Richardson (centre, Souths), Kevin Henderson (centre, Souths), David Seage (fullback, Wynumm Manly), Trent Salkeld (centre) and David Goodridge (front rower) both from Wests Ncle, George Carmont (centre, Raymond Tce), should provide quality depth. From my point of view, a little bit more depth and experience is something that has been actively sought on the back of the representative commitments and injuries that were suffered this year. This will hopefully allow the club to keep some of its talented juniors in the U20s program and we can progress them when they are better prepared physically and mentally for the demands of 1st Division and 1st Grade. It may also add a little bit more competition for places which is something that we have not been in position to do for a number of season due to the restrictions placed upon our club by the Salary Cap. Everybody would agree that the last game of 2003 has left a bad taste in the mouths of our supporters, sponsors, players and staff. It may be just the catalyst this team needs to improve its performance and get back to the levels that were achieved in 2001 and 2002 - myself and the players certainly expect so!

Hagan's playoff theory -  By Barry Toohey,  December 19, 2003
Michael Hagan has this theory about a surprise contender from the pack emerging to upstage the big name clubs in the NRL next season.  It's a theory which has legs when you sit down and analyse Hagan's case. The Newcastle and new Queensland coach is no gambling man but punters looking for a long shot for the title could do worse than heed this advice. "Look for a team with a good playmaker whose players are on the way up but likely to sneak under the representative radar next season," he says. Hagan's theory is based on his belief that the highly fancied clubs who provide the bulk of the representative players are at a disadvantage over the course of the premiership because of the arduous representative schedule. He cites the past four premiership-winning sides as evidence. When Brisbane won it in 2000, among the emerging stars were the likes of Lote Tuqiri, Brad Meyers, Petero Civoniceva, Dane Carlaw and Chris Walker. None of them played State of Origin that year but all were rep players by the end of it. Hagan's own Knights side did it in 2001, the year future Test stars Danny Buderus, Steve Simpson and Timana Tahu emerged.  None of them was weighed down by Origin commitments and neither was captain Andrew Johns, who missed the 2001 series through injury. Can you sense a pattern developing. In 2002, it was the Roosters' turn. Significantly, Brad Fittler had announced his representative retirement before the season kicked off and over the course of the year, future rep stars such as Anthony Minichiello, Craig Wing, Craig Fitzgibbon and Justin Hodges emerged from the pack to star for the Roosters. Any doubters left. Surely not after last season. Penrith, tipped to be premiership also-rans before a ball was kicked, pinched the title on the back of a good play-maker in Craig Gower and a host of players on the way up. The Panthers didn't have a current rep player before the season started. By the end of it, they had a bag full. But don't think for one moment Hagan is dirty on the representative program. He is, after all, going to be a big part of it as Maroons coach.
Coaching against his own players, including the mercurial Andrew Johns, for the first time. Johns was one of the first people he turned to when he was first offered the position. Hagan wanted to know the thoughts of the world's best player on whether he should take the job or not. "Andrew just said to go for it - that you don't pass up an offer like that," Hagan recalled. "He was great about it."
So how does he feel about coaching against the likes of Johns?  It's a question he knows he will be asked countless times during the lead-up to the series.  "To be honest, I haven't given it a lot of thought yet," he said.  "It will be a major challenge. What I do know is that I am not going to be any better off than any other coach who has to sit down and come up with a game plan to combat him just because I am his club coach. Thinking you may know what he may or may not do is one thing - stopping it is another and obviously, a lot depends on the make-up of the teams. But that is down the track - the focus now is the Knights and getting everything right preparation-wise during the off-season."
HAGAN is aware the bar has been raised by clubs such as the Roosters in recent seasons. Accordingly, the Knights are working harder than ever before in the off-season to prepare. From what he hears on the grapevine, so is everyone else in the competition. Speed, endurance, skill - every component of the game is being focused on like never before. He expects the competition to tighten even further in 2004.  The gap, he says, between the top and bottom teams will narrow and the scorelines will do likewise.  As for coping with variables such as the representative season, Hagan says the sides affected just have to manage it the best they can.
"I think they have done a great job with the draw," he says. "[That] no one will play the same team twice in a six-week period and three weeks between Origins is good. I think the game is travelling pretty well at present."
So who is the mystery longshot Hagan thinks punters should get on?  "I haven't got a clue - it's just a theory," he says. "But I'd like to think if there is one, we'll knock them over in the grand final."

Season 2004
Four new signings for 2004 - 8 October 2003 
The Newcastle Knights have today announced four new signings to their senior squad line-up for the 2004 season. 
Russell Richardson, former international centre who has also played first grade for both Cronulla and South Sydney, and a talented 21 year old Wollongong junior Clinton Hill who made several First Grade appearances with Wests Tigers in 2003, have both agreed to terms.  Local players David Goodridge who had a strong season with Western Suburbs, and team mate Trent Salkeld who is a former Knights junior will be returning to the club after an outstanding stint in the Newcastle Rugby League competition. Knights Preseason training starts -  November 11, 2003 -  ..  Andrew Johns was joined at yesterday's session by NSW Origin team-mates Matthew Gidley, Timana Tahu and Josh Perry, but Ben Kennedy (foot), Mark Hughes (shoulder), Clint Newton (ankle), Craig Hall (knee), Robbie O'Davis (nose) and Todd Lowrie (ankle) remain a few weeks away from resuming training. Former Parramatta five-eighth Steve Witt and former South Sydney pair Russell Richardson and Jamie Fitzgerald were also in attendance for their first run with the Knights after agreeing to terms for next season. 

Coach Hagan's expectation for 2004 - Michael Hagan 
Coach Hagan identified the need for the Knights to start matching the defensive intensity of a trend-setting team like the Roosters. Improved attitude, better performance and some new faces are things we can look forward to in 2004. 
Test players – Andrew Johns, Matt Gidley, Ben Kennedy and Timana Tahu (while disappointed at missing the Kangaroo Tour) should come back physically and mentally refreshed. New faces including: Steve Witt (halfback/ five-eighth from Parramatta), Jamie Fitzgerald (utility, Souths), Russell Richardson (centre, Souths), Kevin Henderson (centre, Souths), David Seage (fullback, Wynumm Manly), Trent Salkeld (centre) and David Goodridge (front rower) both from Wests Ncle, George Carmont (centre, Raymond Tce), should provide quality depth. From my point of view, a little bit more depth and experience is something that has been actively sought on the back of the representative commitments and injuries that were suffered this year. This will hopefully allow the club to keep some of its talented juniors in the U20s program and we can progress them when they are better prepared physically and mentally for the demands of 1st Division and 1st Grade. It may also add a little bit more competition for places which is something that we have not been in position to do for a number of season due to the restrictions placed upon our club by the Salary Cap. 

The 2004 draw appears to be one of the most well-planned and glitch-free models in some time. In between, all 15 clubs must contest 24 games over 26 weeks, which includes an Anzac Test in Brisbane, City-Country at Gosford and State of Origin, before the play-off series, likely to be staged under the new format outlined by Ryan at the beginning of the two-day conference. Gone are the days when two clubs might play each other twice in the space of four weeks or blockbuster games made less appealing because representative players have to be stood down. Byes have been spaced at least eight weeks apart and the travel burden has been reduced, with no teams to make the trip to New Zealand or Townsville on successive weekends. The National Rugby League is considering scrapping its controversial McIntyre finals system in favour of a proposal put forward by former coach Warren Ryan. Under Ryan's system only one team would be eliminated from the first week of the finals with the highest-ranking winner earning a week off. There would then be three matches in the second week of the finals and two in the third. The Knights, at their own request, opening the season with six away matches while EnergyAustralia Stadium is redeveloped. 

Hagan deal key to Johns -  January 27, 2004
The Newcastle Knights today identified re-signing coach Michael Hagan as the possible key to retaining star halfback Andrew Johns.  The Knights are desperate to retain Johns when his contract expires after the 2004 season, and held preliminary discussions with the Test captain on Saturday.  Johns, 29, is believed keen to know if the club will be able to keep other leading players - headed by representative teammates Ben Kennedy and Timana Tahu - who will join the champion No.7 on the open market come June 30.  Quite simply, he wants the opportunity to win further premierships after guiding the Knights to titles in 1997 and 2001.  And the players will be keen to see if Newcastle can retain its captain before committing themselves, creating the possibility for a contract stand-off.  But Knights football manager Mark Sargent said he didn't believe that would be the case.  He was hoping the club could reach a new agreement with Hagan in the coming weeks and believed that could prove decisive in getting Johns' prized signature. Hagan, who took the club to the 2001 title and will take over from Brisbane's Wayne Bennett as Queensland State of Origin coach, will also be off contract at the end of this season.  Sargent said the club had already set about keeping him in Newcastle. "If we were able to sign Hages up, I'm sure it would be a positive in our negotiations with Andrew," Sargent said.  "He's as important - or the most important - factor in the process (of keeping Johns)..  "He and Hages work very well together." 
Sargent said despite Johns wanting the Knights to retain his leading teammates before putting pen to paper, the Knights were viewing their captain and coach as the priority signings. "Our focus is on Andrew and Hages and then we will pursue the others," he said. "Andrew would be very aware of the fact we'd want to retain the others as well." 
The success-driven Johns - widely considered the premier player in the game - is weighing up whether to stay with the Knights, join a rival NRL club, move to Britain or have a crack at rugby union.

Hagan re-signs with Knights -  2 February, 2004
Newcastle has taken a significant step towards re-signing captain Andrew Johns with the retention of coach Michael Hagan until the end of 2006.  Hagan, recently appointed Queensland State of Origin coach, guided the National Rugby League club to the 2001 premiership and will become the longest serving coach of the Knights by the end of the new agreement.  Newcastle chief executive Ken Conway said the club was extremely happy to have its former club captain under lock and key. "Michael is held in extremely high regard by all within our organisation and it has been a priority of ours to secure his services beyond 2004," he said. "In a relatively short space of time, Michael has won a premiership with the club and been appointed to the prestigious position of Queensland State of Origin coach, which I believe is an indication of both his ability and stature in the game.  "On top of that, Michael has the advantage of being a former player with the Knights and brings with him an understanding of the importance of the club's culture to our success." 
Hagan is the first of the Knights' Kingpins to agree to new terms. Johns, off contract at the end of the 2004, is the next high-profile target, with Test players Ben Kennedy and Timana Tahu also high on the Knights' wish list. Hagan today said he was pleased to have settled his future at the club. "I must say that I feel very privileged to be coach of what is a very good football team at a very good football club," Hagan said. "The Knights were very supportive of me during my playing career and that has certainly been the case during my time here as a coach. "My family is also happy here, which does make the decision a little easier to make. I do know that expectations are justifiably high in Newcastle but I am confident that, given the programmes that we have in place, we will be able to meet them now and in the future."

New crew puts depth in Knights -  17 February, 2004
Sometimes it must seem to Newcastle coach Michael Hagan that the most important person at the Knights isn't Andrew Johns but the club accountant.  For years the theory has been that Newcastle can't win the premiership without Johns, and it will be no different this season.  But even the world's best player can only do so much and when injuries strike, as they did last season, the Knights' depth was found wanting.  Of course, the most serious injury was the neck problem that sidelined Johns just a month out from the finals, but that was really just the final blow to their 2003 campaign. 
From the opening round of the competition, Hagan was never able to put his top side on the field at any one time and the players he was forced to call up as replacements were sadly lacking in experience at NRL level.  "We had a review of our year, like everyone does, and we knew that we needed a little bit more experience in our second tier of players," he said. "I think our average age in first division last year was about 19, so you're always struggling when you bring in young blokes to do a job you know they are probably another year or two off from." 
Yet while the problem may be obvious, the solution is complex. Like most clubs, the bulk of Newcastle's $3.25 million salary cap is tied up in their top players - leaving little for recruitment.  It's a constant juggling act and, although Sean Rudder and Adam MacDougall were released, the club still had to re-sign the likes of Josh Perry and Robbie O'Davis before they could look elsewhere.  "That's something we thought we had to do, so we've done what we could within the confines of our budget," Hagan said. 
Enter former Test second-rower Russell Richardson, highly regarded Parramatta five-eighth Steve Witt and ex-St George Illawarra and South Sydney back-rower Jamie Fitzgerald - all bargain buys, with Richardson believed to have signed for $20,000.  Along with winger Craig Hall, hooker Luke Quigley and forwards Andrew Price, Matt Kennedy and Todd Lowrie - who all played extensively at NRL level llast season - they will be the players Hagan looks to when injuries strike this season, as he believes they inevitably will.  "It's obviously going to take them some time in playing games to feel comfortable but we're in week 12 of pre-season training now and they've certainly done the work and look good, so I'll be quite keen to see how they get on," he said after yesterday naming his first side of the season for Saturday night's trial against Sydney Roosters.
We've got about five or six new guys to the club that we're going to have a look at, just to see where they're at and what they can handle, and then we've probably got five or six young blokes who we're expecting a little bit more from as well."
The good news is that all but Mark Hughes (shoulder) and Clint Newton (ankle) are expected to be fit for the premiership kick-off on March 12 at Penrith Stadium, but the Knights are on the road until round six while the first part of work on their home ground is completed.  "That's been touched on and we understand it's going to be a pretty tough opening six or eight weeks," Hagan said. "But I think we've got every right to feel confident. . . We're probably a little bit healthier than we have been at other times and we've got a few new faces . . . so I'd be hopeful we're going to cope a bit better when we get knocked around."

Hagan learns from the master how to protect rep players -  24 February 2004
For Newcastle coach Michael Hagan, seeking good advice to the vexing problem of protecting his representative rugby league players from burn-out was easy - he talked to the man who's been doing it for 16 years.  Hagan spoke to Wayne Bennett, the man he replaced as Queensland Origin coach after the Brisbane mentor opted at the end of the 2003 series to focus his energies on a Broncos outfit which failed to meet expectations last year.  The Broncos have been providing the bulk of the Maroons squad since they entered the competition in 1988 so Bennett knows a thing or two about player burn-out. "He was really good to talk to from the point of view of how he manages his good players and what he expects from them in terms of backing up for games and the workload," said Hagan, who could lose up to nine players for Origin and Test duties in 2004. 
Hagan may have won a premiership with the Knights in his debut year of coaching first grade in 2001, but learning how to best motivate jaded rep players has taken longer to work out.  He cites Test hooker Danny Buderus, who made his debut for NSW in 2002, as a prime example. 
"In 2002 Danny played Origin for the first time but didn't come back to us in the same form," explained Hagan. "He was mentally tired but last year we spoke about some strategies in terms of rest. He came back for us in the last six weeks and he was our best player for the year but those last six weeks he was outstanding. I'm literally learning all the time how to get the best out of your players and that's effectively what you have to do." 
Not only will Hagan be missing key players through stretches of 2004, the coach himself will be absent through Origin duties but he's confident of handling the load.  "Our preparation for games last year post-Origin were pretty good," he said. "As much as it's coaching, it's how the players come back and how they feel about themselves." 
The recruitment of half Steve Witt from Parramatta, former Test centre Russell Richardson and utility Jamie Fitzgerald (both Souths) will help ease the pressure during the rep season.  Hagan said he would give Gidley first shot at five-eighth, but Witt could play in the halves or even hooker during the year. 
Of course whenever you mention the Knights' chances of premiership success, the name Andrew Johns always pops up.  The Test and NSW captain's general fitness and how he comes back from a serious neck injury will be pivotal to Newcastle's hopes of winning their third title. 
Throw in Buderus, Robbie O'Davis, Timana Tahu, Matthew Gidley, Josh Perry and Ben Kennedy and Hagan's goal of securing a top four spot appears a reasonable one.  The Knights are travelling "okay" on the pre-season injury front, with only Matt Parsons (finger), Clint Newton (ankle), Craig Hall (knee/ankle) and Mark Hughes (shoulder) to miss the NRL season opener against Penrith on March 12. They also must play well on the road because their first home match at a revamped EnergyAustralia Stadium won't be staged until round six, against the Sydney Roosters. 
 

MICHAEL HAGAN will coach Queensland again in 2005 but will break camp during the series to watch NRL games involving his club, Newcastle.

Hagan hits back at Origin slur  -  26 May 2004
Queensland State of Origin coach Michael Hagan has dismissed claims by opposite number Phil Gould that the Maroons will try to slow the play-the-ball during their Origin I clash in Sydney tonight. Gould had accused Queensland captain Shane Webcke of leading the NRL in 'flops', and said he expected hooker Cameron Smith to use the outlawed grapple tackle. But Hagan told Channel Nine that his side would play within the rules. "[I'm] a little bit surprised by Phil's comments, but I think in the end we would like to think that [referee] Sean Hampstead will control the game as he always does, and we'd like to think we would be well within the rules," he said. Gould has warned that his players are ready to start a fight on the field if Queensland resorts to 'go slow' tactics. The Blues have been installed as favourites for the opening game, despite the scandal and sackings which have marred their preparations. Mark Gasnier and Anthony Minichiello were both axed from the side for their misbehaviour during an alcohol-fuelled "bonding session" last week. Many pundits expect the Blues to be fired up by their recent troubles, but Gould has warned that it may not be enough to get them across the line. "That sort of emotion doesn't last too long in a game of football," he warned.
"You've got to go out there with a plan, you've got to rehearse it, you've got to practice it, you've got to believe in it, and you've got to execute it."
Tonight's match is expected to be an extremely physical contest, with players from both sides keen to put the controversy of the past few weeks behind them. 
Ten players will make their Origin debut tonight - six from New South Wales, and four Queenslanders. New South Wales won last year's Origin series two-one. Queensland leads the head-to-head score 34 to 33. 

Johns call has Hagan happy again after week from hell -  26 June, 2004
When Andrew Johns phoned Michael Hagan yesterday morning to say he had made a decision on his playing future and wanted him to be the first to know, the Newcastle coach feared the worst. "He asked me if I was sitting down, so I wasn't sure how to take that," Hagan said. It had been a hell of a week and a hell of a decision - not only for Johns but anyone associated with the Knights and rugby league. While Johns said he had been so stressed he was unable to eat, Hagan had been ill since Monday and admitted the prospect of losing the world's best player may have been a contributing factor. After his appearance on The Footy Show on Thursday night, Johns knew he had to make a decision. He left the Sydney home of girlfriend Cathrine Mahoney early yesterday and drove to Newcastle. "Every hour that I'd think about it, my mind would change," Johns said. "Then on the drive back up the freeway I just decided I wanted to stay. I was on my own and I suppose I finally got some peace of mind and time alone to think, and I made the call. "I rang Hages first because I thought he should be the first bloke who should know, then I rang Fordo [agent John Fordham] and told him. I just said I'm staying in Newcastle, it's the decision I've made." 
In the short term, however, he plans to speak with Hagan about whether to play one more season of Origin and Test football when he returns from a knee reconstruction next year.  Hagan said he'd been aware since February that Johns was tempted by the challenge of testing himself in a new game, but had become really concerned about it in just the past week. "I spoke to Andrew on Monday night and I think he had some genuine issues and decisions he had to make," Hagan said. "I think rugby union always had some curiosity value there for him. We've made our position pretty clear from day one, probably six months ago, that we wanted him to be here and we're just glad now that's finally been confirmed."

Hagan double ton -  06/08/2004,  Newcastle Herald
MICHAEL Hagan will create history by becoming the first Knight to play and coach 100 first-grade games when Newcastle take on Canberra at EnergyAustralia Stadium tomorrow night. The affable 39-year-old also has the distinction of having played and coached Queensland. Hagan, who played 111 games for the Knights, joins former teammate, Canterbury stalwart Steve Folkes, from the current crop of NRL coaches to have recorded the unique milestone. Folkes played 245 games for his beloved Bulldogs and has been in charge at Belmore for 179 games. "It [100 games] is something I have been made aware of, but I have not really given it much thought to be honest," Hagan said of the milestone. "I am pleased that I have been able to do it at this club. It is quite rare and I am fairly fortunate to have been given an opportunity on both counts. It is nice to be acknowledged, but at the end of the day we have a job to do on Saturday night. It is a pretty important game for our season. That has been my focus and the team's focus for this week. All the other stuff is just a bonus along the way." 
Hagan joined the Knights' playing ranks in 1989 after he had won two premierships 1985 and 1988 at Canterbury. He was given the honour of captaining the Knights from 1990 to 1993 and became the first player to be appointed first-grade coach when he replaced Warren Ryan in 2001. Unable to win a premiership during his playing days in the blue and red, Hagan made an instant impact as coach, leading the Knights to a grand final triumph over Parramatta. He also played five State of Origin games for Queensland from Newcastle and this year achieved the double honour when he guided the Maroons for the first time in the 2-1 series defeat to NSW. Despite his immediate success and impressive record, coaching was only an afterthought for Hagan when he joined Super League club the Hunter Mariners as media manager in 1997. "I hadn't thought about coaching when I finished playing," Hagan said. "Keith Onslow got me involved. He encouraged me to go and do my Level I and Level II [coaching certificates]. "I guess he always thought I had some aptitude for it. I coached the Mariners under 19s and I gave [first-grade coach] Graham Murray a hand towards the back end of 1997." 
After the demise of Super League and the Mariners, Hagan was approached by Canberra coach Mal Meninga and chief executive Kevin Neil to join the Raiders. 
He coached the Raiders first-division side for two seasons before an opportunity arose to return to Newcastle in a similar position and assist Ryan. "After two years [of coaching] I thought that it was something I'd like to continue." Hagan said. "Then came the opportunity to move back to Newcastle when [first-division coach] Steve Linnane took up a job in England. The timing for everything was spot-on. I have been lucky. The opportunities have been there for me right along the way." 
One of a new breed of young coaches, Hagan is one of the most respected and liked mentors in the game. 

COACHING CAREER 
* Canberra President's Cup 1998, Canberra First Division 1999. 
* Knights First Division 2000, Knights First Grade 2000. 
Record: 99 games, won 58, lost 40, drawn 1 
Premierships: Knights 2001 
Queensland State of Origin: 3 games 2004 

PLAYING CAREER 
Canterbury: 80 games 1983-88 
Newcastle: 111 games 1989-93 
Halifax: 92 games 1984-85 and 1993-95 
Premierships: Canterbury 1985 and 1988 
Queensland: 5 games 1989-90

Hagan calls for season to be shortened -  8 November 2004 
Newcastle coach Michael Hagan is leading the chorus for the NRL season to be shortened but he's frustrated rugby league's powerbrokers aren't listening. Hagan wants the NRL season reduced from 26 rounds to 22 to ease the demands on elite players, whose bodies are still being punished in the Tri Nations tournament. 
The Kangaroos' international schedule for 2004 doesn't end until December 1 when they play a tour match against the USA in Philadelphia. Asked at Newcastle's first pre-season training session on Monday whether the NRL season was too long, Hagan said: "Yeah probably but we don't seem to be listening or taking much notice of the coaches or the players. "People don't understand how hard this game is and what the players are putting themselves through every week. Twenty-two games would be fine." 
A jaded Danny Buderus called for a 22-match schedule in the lead-up to Australia's opening Tri Nations clash with New Zealand in Auckland last month. The Knights hooker was forced to carry a stress fracture of his foot and a nasty toe infection into the last month of the regular season as the Knights unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the finals series. Buderus was inspirational but the mental and physical drain of a gruelling year left him in dire need of a break. In awe of his achievements this season, Hagan said the Dally M Medallist would be excused from training until January 10.  "To be Australian captain at the end of it, it's been a remarkable year for him," said the Queensland coach. "He's entitled to a spell when he finishes." 
Mindful of the stress on the body, Newcastle skipper Andrew Johns said he would quit rep football if he couldn't rediscover his form in his comeback from a knee reconstruction. It just gets harder all the time," said Johns, who returned to training on Monday for the first time since injuring his knee in March. You look at someone like Danny Buderus and how much footy him and Darren Lockyer play ... backing up takes its toll." 
Johns on Monday reiterated his claim he would retire if he suffered another major injury, saying it would be unfair on the Knights to attempt another comeback at the age of 30. "The club is paying me a fair bit out of their salary cap to lead the side and I wouldn't want to be taking a big chunk and sitting on the sideline," the former Australian and NSW captain said. A horrific injury toll spelt the death knell for the Knights 2004 premiership hopes, which were crushed when they failed to make the finals for the first time since 1996. They lost several key players at the end of a disappointing season, including Ben Kennedy and Timana Tahu, but Johns is confident they can defy expectations and make the top four in 2005. It's a bit of a new squad but I think we'll surprise some people this year," the halfback said. 
"The players we've lost ... people are writing us off but I think we'll do pretty well. We're definitely looking for a top four finish." 

Hagan will get Origin break -  1 December, 2004
MICHAEL HAGAN will coach Queensland again in 2005 but will break camp during the series to watch NRL games involving his club, Newcastle. The Knights have given their coach the green light to head the Maroons' 2005 State of Origin campaign and the Queensland Rugby League rubber-stamped his appointment on November 19. "I've informed them (the QRL) and Wayne (Bennett), who is director of coaching, I'm happy to do it again," Hagan said. "Our board met about a month ago and they were happy for me to do it and I'd given some thought to doing both jobs. I just wanted to make sure we had a couple of things done at our end before I accepted the job again." 
Hagan took over from Bennett as Maroons coach this year and registered his first win in game two at Suncorp Stadium, but ultimately lost the series after a Brad Fittler-inspired NSW team scored a comprehensive win in the decider at Telstra Stadium. Newcastle did well before Origin, having scored a thrilling one-point win over Brisbane to grab fifth spot on the ladder, but lost five of their next six games during the series to lose touch with the competition leaders. Hagan did not want to use his Origin commitments as an excuse for the Knights' drop in form last year, but the club has added former North Sydney, NSW and Australia forward David Fairleigh to the coaching staff to help alleviate the burden on the head coach. Hagan added that he intended to break camp during the series next year to monitor the Knights' progress. Newcastle have several crunch matches in that period including home games against St George Illawarra, Brisbane and Sydney Roosters and an away game against Penrith. 
"I'll talk to the QRL and (QRL managing director) Ross (Livermore) about that and I think they'll understand I need to make some concessions there as well to make sure that I'm giving my attention to the club," Hagan said.  Livermore said yesterday he couldn't see a problem with Hagan's request, given that Queensland were looking to take a leaf out of NSW's book next year and send players home for the weekend before the opening game of the series. "We brought them together this year when we announced the team on Monday and then we let them go and they came back into camp on Wednesday night," Livermore said. 
"This time we'll do the same with the team announcement but we'll keep them in camp for a fan day at Rockhampton on Wednesday.

Knights' Revolutionary Training Sessions
For once there was not a bet laid when the Newcastle Knights visited Broadmeadow Racecourse last week. Instead it was the players and not the horses sent out to run the track. In a bizarre spectacle that takes place once a week, Knights players are participating in human trackwork as the club searches for a way to avoid the injuries that have ruined recent premiership campaigns. Among the changes to pre-season training is the use of a new synthetic track at Broadmeadow, specially designed to reduce shin soreness in horses during trackwork.
 "We're just trying to take the stress off their legs," coach Michael Hagan explained. "The idea came from (assistant coach) Craig Miller, who spends a fair bit of time at the racetrack in the morning when they do their trackwork. He noticed that their horses were working on it and they've been reporting a lot better news with things like shin soreness. So we thought what applies to horses might apply to humans. We've changed things a bit this year at training and it's all aimed at getting them through pre-season training and getting some more games out of them." 
The special surface at Broadmeadow is known as "Pro-Ride" and is a combination of compressed cottonseed husks, steel wool, oil and sand. The spongy surface takes the stress off the players' legs in heavy conditioning sessions that are common at this time of year. The Knights took a close look at their training methods after leg injuries last season saw the following players spend extended time on the sidelines: Andrew Johns (knee), Timana Tahu (hamstring, ankle), Steve Simpson (foot), Ben Kennedy (hamstring), Daniel Abraham (ankle), David Seage (knee), and Riley Brown (ankle). (and I'll add Mark Hughes - hamstring - to that too) 
 Apart from using the Broadmeadow track, the Knights have also increased their bike work and swimming.  Forward Kirk Reynoldson, the club's major off-season buy from Melbourne, said the team's trackwork may take the stress off the joints, but is no less difficult. "It's like any track in that when it gets wet it gets heavy and it was wet the other day ... that's probably why I'm doing it tough," he said. "Have you ever done a 400 meter run down a straight? It's like a bowl of spaghetti, it never seems to end. At least when you run a 400 on an oval you feel like you're getting somewhere".

Newsroom - Q&A With Michael Hagan
Monday, February 21, 2005 - Dave McCowan.  Knights online contributor David McCowen caught up with Newcastle coach Michael Hagan after Saturday's trial match against the Panthers. Here’s what he had to say: 
Knights online: This week’s game was supposed to test the team prior to the season opener. How did the team cope? 
Michael Hagan: The conditions were very moist, which made for poor handling. We were untidy in the first half, things did improve. 
Knights online: Tonight’s game certainly was played in less than ideal conditions. Did playing on an unknown ground in slippery conditions add to injury worries? 
Michael Hagan: Tonight was the first full game in a long time for the team. The players had to get back on the horse, back into the rhythm of premiership football. Injuries can happen in any game, be it a trial match or the grand final; it’s a part of the modern game. 
Knights online: The team was stretched today by a solid performance from the Panthers. What do you feel the team needs to work on? 
Michael Hagan: Match fitness. You can train in the off-season all you like, but there’s no substitute for getting into games and playing again. Plus we’ll have Johns, Perry and Buderus back in the team for the first round. 
Knights online: With two trial games under your belt and a full-strength side for the season opener, will the Knights be ready to win from Game 1, or will they gather momentum through the year? 
Michael Hagan: You always like to start the year well, and we intend to win matches from the first round on. To be honest, though, we are missing three or four top class players, and it might take a while to fill those positions. 
Knights online: Good luck for the new season. 
Michael Hagan: Thanks.

Meek defence angers Hagan -  14 March, 2005
DISAPPOINTED Newcastle coach Michael Hagan last night questioned the commitment of his players after a red-faced Knights outfit slumped to an embarrassing opening- round loss against Melbourne. A soft-centred Knights defence was severely exposed as the Storm blitzed through Newcastle in a nine-try massacre, with key signing Kurt Reynoldson raising his hand as one of the poor performers. Coach Hagan labelled the Knights' opening-half defence, when the Storm raced in three tries in the first 13 minutes, as meek after Melbourne continued to find ways to push through the Newcastle barricade. 
"We expect more from our team first-up," Hagan said.  "I wasn't expecting us to be at our best today but I think we're entitled to expect a little more than what we got.  From what we saw we're pretty entitled to be disappointed with the effort of our players. You can't see too many positives other than we got a couple of blokes through the game who we hadn't played for a while. We were poor and they were exceptionally good. When you concede points meekly early on in a game it's always difficult to peg them back after that and we probably gave them three tries with some pretty soft stuff in that period." 
The Knights struggled to match it with an under-rated Melbourne forward pack, with the absence of a dominant front-rower the most alarming signal. The twin losses of former NSW Origin prop Josh Perry, missing for up to 10 weeks with a wrist injury, and sacked rookie Dane Tilse were clearly evident in the front-row department. Compounding their problems was the loss of former NSW Origin centre Mark Hughes to the sin-bin for a professional foul during the second half, reducing the Knights to 12 men for 10 minutes. Hagan confirmed the Knights were in on-going discussions with former Dragons prop Craig Smith, who has returned to Australia after a stint in England. On a more positive note Newcastle expect five-eighth Kurt Gidley to return from a quadriceps strain against Canberra next week, while Dally M Medallist Danny Buderus is expected back in round four. "I'd like to think that Kurt Gidley will be back next week and Danny Buderus and a couple of others the week after that hopefully," Hagan said. "But we knew that was the case and we've got to expect more from the people that take the field right now. When you conceded points meekly early on in a game it's always difficult to peg them back after that and we probably gave them three tries with some pretty soft stuff in that period." 
Hagan was satisfied with the return of captain Andrew Johns, who appeared to be still coming to terms with having missed almost the entire 2004 season. "He was playing off the back foot a fair bit today and we always knew it was going to take a little while for him to find his feet again," Hagan said. "But I don't think he'd be all that pleased with the way the team played and probably how he played at times. He got frustrated by virtue of how he played and we were playing off the backfoot a bit too. He'll get some confidence out of getting through the game and I'm sure the timing and the touch will come back in due course." 
 

"I've made a commitment to do the job (this year) and I will fulfil that. But six months ago I couldn't have forecast the position I'd be in now."

We are relying on our old heads in time of crisis - By: Michael Hagan,  19 March 2005
WE live by the theory that the NRL competition has become a young man's game -- with the quicker pace, higher intensity and salary cap pressures meaning 
you can't carry the high-level experienced men you once might have. Or so we thought. Our signing of Craig Smith, 33, at the Newcastle Knights takes the total of  front-rowers in the competition older than 30 to eight. And there are four players in the NRL now who had retired or admit they were about to retire: Craig Smith, Terry Hill, Matt Adamson and Jason Smith. What does it mean?  I don't think there is a general rule or trend on career spans or ages in the NRL at present. It's more to do with individual circumstances. That is: your situation with the salary cap; whether players in the twilight of their careers are willing to accept less pay as a way of staying in the game; what balance of youth and experience you have.And an important facet is the always present balancing act of determining what strength you need in what positions and the value of an older player who can bring so much to your club in terms of experience and education of  the younger players.
But what the amount of prominent `senior citizens' in our game now does show is that players aren't necessarily shot ducks when they reach 30 or 31 in this faster, more physical game if the circumstance is right.  The reasons for recruiting Craig were simple: we'd lost our two frontline props, Adam Woolnough and Josh Perry, with long-term injuries; and looking at how Craig Smith had performed for the past three seasons at Wigan, we thought he was the best player to bring in at the price we could afford.
How did we fit him under the cap? Again, circumstance intervened. We had some room after the cancellation of Dane Tilse's contract and Craig was happy to accept lower terms than what he was used to. Our senior front-rowers are only 24: Woolnough, Perry and Matt Kennedy; our back-up men Matthew White, Kade Snowden, Brendan Worth and Daniel Tolar are kids, with Tolar the oldest at 22. They will get benefit from Smith having one more season. Our opponents this weekend in Canberra will have the most over-30s of any club when skipper Simon Woolford hits the milestone in May. The Raiders saw a similar benefit in offering Jason Smith and Adamson contracts.  The Warriors obviously felt they needed toughness and leadership and found it was worth sacrificing, I'd guess, a quarter to a third of their salary cap on Ruben Wiki and Steve Price, and to do that they did not re-sign some younger players.
The Bulldogs have only one player over 30 in Tony Grimaldi and the Tigers, Panthers and Dragons have none, while Souths (Bryan Fletcher) and the 
Roosters (Luke Ricketson) have just one. But the fact that eight front-rowers -- Shane Webcke (30), Ruben Wiki (32), Stevve Price (31), Craig Smith (33), Robbie Kearns (33), Jason Stevens (32), Paul Rauhihi (31) and Alex Chan (30) -- are over 30 proves that the recipe for success, other than the modern theory that you must have class at hooker, halfback, five-eighth and fullback, is having toughness and maturity up front.
I suggest all of those players are the type who have real professional attitudes and manage their injuries and their preparation before a game well and don't take short cuts so that they can get through the grind of 24 club games a season. That's not always the case with younger players. As a coach you have to relieve the older players from some of the training and tough pre-match work but they can bring so much to your club in experience and influence on younger players.
It's always a tough call for a coach. I have had to make it in recent years, yet as a player I was subject to that tough call when, at 29 and as Knights 
skipper, I could sense the tap on the shoulder was coming with the emergence of Matthew Johns at five-eighth and I decided to finish my career in Britain.
But what I think this year will prove is that age isn't the be-all and end-all; circumstance is.
* We are not after any sympathy at Newcastle but to be going into just the second round of the season with 12 potential first-graders injured is the worst casualty list I have encountered at this stage of the season as a player or coach. It was no excuse for our poor effort against a very strong Melbourne side last weekend because we still fielded a pretty fair side, but it was still a significant component.  We did have Andrew Johns, Daniel Abraham and Steve Simpson playing after 
virtually missing most of a complete season and no Perry, Kurt Gidley or Danny Buderus. So in the context of our preparation, we did not have one established front-line player who went into the game not `underdone'.  So what do you do after starting a season with such a crushing loss? Get back on the horse and look to the next match. Overcoming the soreness from the first hit-out of the year and physically getting the players back from a tough game in 35degree heat doesn't change because of the result.We had a couple of very good training sessions later in the week, with the focus positively on the Raiders and I was impressed with how the players were open about their performance but willing to move forward. That's all we can do. Life goes on; we've got 23 games to go.

Hoppa's tactic was a disaster waiting to happen By: Michael Hagan, The Australian, 26 March 2005
DID John Hopoate deserve a 17-week suspension that ended his career? I think so considering his record of troubles over many seasons and the fact the 
judicial system is designed to catch repeat offenders. But the most curious facet of the Hopoate affair was the defence that came from Manly coach Des Hasler (and I concede that any defence was pretty desperate) that ``Hoppa'' charged in from his wing, out of the defensive line, in a calculated move to pull off a big hit to lift the team -- and that there was no ``intent'' to go high on Keith Galloway. Firstly, lack of intent is no longer a defence. There would be little intent from any player to go high on someone. And secondly, if you take such risk of the ``big charge'' or the search for the big hit, all you need is for your judgment to be out just a little and it can land you in a good deal of bother -- as Hopoate found out and as our own player at the Newcastle Knights, Clint Newton, did last year.
The consequences are significant for defending like that. The game has changed so dramatically that, as a coach, you just can't tolerate it. The other thing that makes it illogical is that defence these days is about keeping your line. Maybe down in the opposition's end of the field it is an option to ``charge'' at a player, but you want to do it in numbers -- say two or three players, two or three passes off the ruck. I just can't fathom why a winger would go all that way to try to shut down the football one pass off the ruck. There's the risk of not getting there on time to start with, then the decision what to do when that happens. It defies logic.
The terms ``reckless'' and ``careless'' are put on the charge sheets for good reason. If you are regularly careless in your tackling technique, or general behaviour -- as has been the case with Hopoate who ended his career with a record of 45 weeks of suspension from nine charges -- the current system is going to come down hard on you. It's a deterrent that is certainly working. A player doesn't get charged these days unless there is pretty damning evidence to suggest a charge will 
stick. That's why, I'd guess, less than 10 per cent of players challenge a charge, and of those I'd say less than 50 per cent win their case. It's an excellent system. If you tread the line, and do it again, it is at some risk. If you have a capacity for high shots, you're looking down the barrel of a long stint on the sideline.
Yet to look at the list of charges from round two you might think some players seem to be either not listening, have real technique problems or just have a compulsion for sailing close to the wind. It was certainly the week of the repeat offender. How's this for six of the eight players who faced charges: John Hopoate (no explanation needed); Ruben Wiki was facing his fifth charge in two years (four prior ``similar offence'' for high tackles); Albert Torrens his sixth (two similar and
three non-similar offences in the previous two years); Alex Chan his fourth (three non-similar offences); Greg Bird his third since the start of last season; and Mark Riddell his third. The ``loading'' they receive for their poor records weighs heavily against them, and so it should. The dilemma for a coach is that you can't afford the burden of a repeat offender who might be facing a lengthy suspension at any turn -- but you do want aggression. And that's the fine line players and coaches wrestle with all the time. That's why we spend so much time on defensive technique and drills. And defence is a whole lot tougher to coach than attack, let me tell you. Why? Because you can't do it effectively at half-pace and you really have to do it in body-to-body contact, which means you are always sparring with injury from a practice session.  Footwork and technique is such a big part of good defence. It's about putting yourself in the right position, if your feet and your head and 
everything that follows are in the right position the risk of a tackle going awry is reduced. When you are wrong-footed or get there late or you mistime the tackle, that is where the risk can become too much. So the value of aggression and all those qualities we want in the game are balanced by the risk involved.
Any NRL team does a lot of defensive work, mainly with the tackling pads and bags, but the intricacies of getting your technique right comes when you put 
some suits on (padded vests) and defend each other. I guess players do it at say 80 per cent of match speed and intensity. You have to practise it reasonably full-on to a) get it right and b) to avoid injury. A lot of it is done in the off-season without the pressure of backing up for a game a few days later. But you must maintain your one-on-one defensive work in-season, normally twice a week -- even though that can be made more difficult by the simple virtue some players just aren't fit enough if they're carrying injury.
For example before the Canberra match last Sunday, we could really have done with some intensive defensive work judging by our scoreline the weekend before against Melbourne. But we had only six or eight players out of 20 who could adequately do the defensive work because the others were in rehab. It's a never-ending challenge: coaches want teams to be aggressive with their defence; players go out with instructions to get the upper hand. But at the breakneck speed we see the game being played, there is little room for error. But what I saw ``Hoppa'' do, coming from so far away, at such an angle and such speed, then leaping into the air, is not something I would coach.

New Knightmare for Hagan -  11 April, 2005
THE danger for Newcastle Knights now is that not even Andrew Johns can find the answers.  This was a game the Knights saw as a starting point to get their season rolling. Instead, the dark clouds continue to hover over the only winless club in the premiership and they now look even more threatening. "I've run out of answers," a dejected Johns admitted after his side's 25-point loss.  For Newcastle fans, that is hardly an encouraging admission.  Knights coach Michael Hagan summed up his side's performance against the Rabbitohs best when he said: "We probably missed four or five chances to score in each half. We aren't travelling well enough to miss any." 
It is unlikely their confidence has ever been at a lower ebb. Hagan says his team is "working hard" at training but there is little to show for it during games.  He pointed to the opening 25 minutes of yesterday's game when Souths made enough errors in their own 40 to gift Newcastle points. 
They were desperate for a good start. But they went empty-handed and instead, it was the Rabbitohs who made the most of two opportunities to post two tries. 
Halfback Joe Williams grubber-kicked perfectly for Bryan Fletcher to score the first and then Mark Minichiello ran a great angle before taking a dubious pass from Williams for their second. It was 12-0 after 16 minutes and Hagan's hopes of a decent start were crushed. 
"The first 20-25 minutes were a step backwards for us when we were trying to gain some confidence, given that it's not brimming at the moment," he said. 
A Luke Quigley long ball for winger Brad Tighe to score in the corner narrowed the gap to 12-6 but that was as close as the Knights got as the Rabbitohs tightened the noose. Johns showed signs his running game was returning. Since coming back from injury, he has largely been content to shovel the ball to supports. 
Yesterday, he took the Rabbitohs on. Twice in the opening half, he broke the first line but none of his teammates had enough faith to get there in support and he was left posted. They were among the half- chances Hagan was talking about. He tried just about everything he knows to rally the side. But the mistake rate of his side was again a killer. Souths completed at 85 per cent to Newcastle's 65 per cent. 
The possession was a telling factor. At 24-6 at halftime, a way back for the Knights didn't look likely and it wasn't. With Williams orchestrating things from behind a more physical forward pack, the Rabbitohs survived an early second-half onslaught from the Knights. Minichiello was outstanding for the Bunnies along with Williams while Todd Polglase and Shannon Hegarty had their moments. Coach Shaun McRae was pleased his side had managed to put two decent halves of football together. "We have been poor intensity-wise in the second half," he said. "Today, we were pretty good about going on with the job."