KNIGHTS chief executive Phil Gardner has candidly admitted the club "dropped the ball" in relation to Indigenous welfare issues, after announcing a new partnership with the Awabakal organisation.
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A five-person Aboriginal advisory group has been appointed as the Knights strive to emulate the likes of South Sydney, North Queensland and Brisbane Broncos in forging closer ties with the indigenous community in their own backyard.
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The involvement of Awabakal is significant as it was only two years ago they struck a deal to sponsor Wests Tigers, who proceeded to sign Newcastle-based coach Ron Griffiths and a number of young players from the Hunter.
That came just a couple of years after the Knights, under previous management, dispensed with the services of club legend Ashley Gordon as their Indigenous-welfare officer.
Now Awabakal are no longer associated with the Tigers and former Newcastle Rugby League stalwart Les Smith is expected to start a full-time role in coming weeks, overseeing the welfare of more than 30 Aboriginal players in the Knights' system.
"We acknowledge that off the football field we've been pretty poor, for a long period of time," Gardner said at a press conference on Monday. "No disrespect to anyone, but the organisation went through a period of bankruptcy, and issues with funding and issues with boards and players.
"There were lots of dramas, and I think over a long period of time, when you're focused on survival, it's very, very difficult to focus on everything else that you need to do.
"So sometimes the ball gets dropped.
"For us to go forward, we needed to acknowledge that fact, that we as an organisation - and I put myself in that - we dropped the ball in a whole lot of areas.
"We're not going to drop the ball any more. So today is a really important day for us, because it's the start of us walking the walk."
Gardner admitted the Knights had been "shown up" by Souths and the Cowboys but had liaised with both clubs to better understand and hopefully replicate their Indigenous programs.
"This is one of the most momentous things we will ever do, as a club, because it's the start," Gardner said. "It's the first step on a long journey."
Spreading the health-and-welfare gospel will be a priority, and Awabakal CEO Raelene Gordon said the Broncos' "Deadly Choices" program showed what can be achieved.
"Our challenge, with the Knights, is to do not just what they've done, but go one step better ... I'm a very competitive person, and I want to beat the Broncos," she said.
Gordon said NRL players were ideal role models to spread a healthy-lifestyle message.
"Blackfellas love football," she said. "We hope that we can partner with the Knights and go: 'You want to be fit, you want to be healthy'. So we can use rugby league as a vehicle to get people to look after themselves."
