Johns' PAINFUL PLEA to save Newcastle Knights: Immortal Behaviour Ep18
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The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
After one game he was rejected by the Knights. It spurred his next 125 NRL appearances
It's the rejection that helped fuel Canberra hooker Tom Starling's NRL career, and countless others as well, including some of his Raiders teammates. Starling made his way through Newcastle's development system before making his NRL debut for the Knights at age 20 in the last round of the 2018 season. It would be the Kincumber Colts junior's only first-grade game for the club. "It was old boys' day, I didn't play too bad. I didn't light the house on fire, but I thought I was going to get a contract out of that," Starling said. "But I didn't hear anything back from them. "I don't know if my manager was sheltering me from it ... but ... I run into [former Knights football manager] Darren Mooney down the beach, he was leaving the club ... and I'm just sort of in no man's land waiting for a call and he goes: 'Have you found anything yet?' "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'Oh, haven't they told you? They think you're too small and they're going to bring in another [hooker].' "I rang my manager up and said: 'We've got to go find something else'. "At the time I probably used it as motivation, but looking back on it now, they obviously needed to win right away and thought they'd move in a different direction." Starling, who recalled his Newcastle exit on an episode of the Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns podcast this week, isn't the first Knights product to go on and have a successful career elsewhere after being overlooked, and he certainly won't be the last. It's the nature of the sport. The Knights have a huge catchment area to potentially draw junior players from, ranging from the Central Coast in the south, the Upper Hunter in the west and up along the coast to the north. The club's modus operandi is to try and find and develop the best of them, but you simply can't keep them all. Knights management have previously said, however, that for a period of time they weren't as focused on their own backyard as they should have been. In recent years, the likes of Grant Anderson (Melbourne Storm), Kurt Donoghoe (The Dolphins) and Starling's Canberra teammates Zac Hosking and Simi Sasagi have become established NRL players after spending time in Newcastle's development system. All of them have admitted that their Newcastle rejections spurred them on other clubs. Starling, now 27, has played 126 NRL games - all but one of them for Canberra Hosking, 28, was twice named Newcastle's NSW Cup player of the year, but couldn't get a start in first grade and left for Brisbane ahead of the 2022 season where he made his NRL debut that year. He has now played 47 NRL games. Canberra have made somewhat of a habit of signing former Knights players or Hunter products. In addition to Starling, Hosking and Sasagi, the Raiders' top-30 roster features Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi, Hudson Young, Myles Martin and Pasami Saulo, who is returning to the Knights next year. Their five-eighth, Ethan Strange, hails from the Central Coast but did not come through the Knights' system. Jake Clydsdale (Scone Thoroughbreds), Kain Anderson (Central Newcastle) and Caleb Garvie (Cessnock Goannas) are playing in Canberra's lower-grade sides. The Raiders have also signed Knights hooker Jayden Brailey for next season. "The Canberra Knights," Young joked about the growing number of former Newcastle players at the club late last year. Starling, who re-signed with Canberra in May until the end of the 2027 season, looks set to go head-to-head this week with the man he will be competing with for the club's No.9 jersey next year. Both he and Brailey have been named at hooker for their respective sides ahead of Sunday's clash in Canberra. Brailey, who has started at hooker in four of Newcastle's past five games, will link with the Raiders for the next two seasons. Owen Pattie is the other emerging rake on Canberra's roster. A win clear at the top of the NRL points table, the Raiders are on an eight-game winning streak and coming off a 40-16 win over Parramatta on Saturday. The Knights, after a 20-15 loss to the Warriors on Sunday, have kept largely the same side for the 2pm match at GIO Stadium. Experienced forward Jack Hetherington has won a recall. He was named on the bench, while Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. Brodie Jones, who was a late withdrawal from the Warriors match - one of a dozen or so Knights players to fall ill on the eve of the game falling a virus outbreak - is in the extended match squad, which also includes Cant, James Schiller, Matt Arthur and Kyle McCarthy. The Knights should take plenty of confidence into the game, having pushed the fourth-placed Warriors all the way and only lost to Canberra 22-18 a month ago. Sasagi, who has mostly been used in the back row this season, will start in the centres against his former team after Raiders back Sebastian Kris (concussion) was ruled out. It's the rejection that helped fuel Canberra hooker Tom Starling's NRL career, and countless others as well, including some of his Raiders teammates. Starling made his way through Newcastle's development system before making his NRL debut for the Knights at age 20 in the last round of the 2018 season. It would be the Kincumber Colts junior's only first-grade game for the club. "It was old boys' day, I didn't play too bad. I didn't light the house on fire, but I thought I was going to get a contract out of that," Starling said. "But I didn't hear anything back from them. "I don't know if my manager was sheltering me from it ... but ... I run into [former Knights football manager] Darren Mooney down the beach, he was leaving the club ... and I'm just sort of in no man's land waiting for a call and he goes: 'Have you found anything yet?' "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'Oh, haven't they told you? They think you're too small and they're going to bring in another [hooker].' "I rang my manager up and said: 'We've got to go find something else'. "At the time I probably used it as motivation, but looking back on it now, they obviously needed to win right away and thought they'd move in a different direction." Starling, who recalled his Newcastle exit on an episode of the Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns podcast this week, isn't the first Knights product to go on and have a successful career elsewhere after being overlooked, and he certainly won't be the last. It's the nature of the sport. The Knights have a huge catchment area to potentially draw junior players from, ranging from the Central Coast in the south, the Upper Hunter in the west and up along the coast to the north. The club's modus operandi is to try and find and develop the best of them, but you simply can't keep them all. Knights management have previously said, however, that for a period of time they weren't as focused on their own backyard as they should have been. In recent years, the likes of Grant Anderson (Melbourne Storm), Kurt Donoghoe (The Dolphins) and Starling's Canberra teammates Zac Hosking and Simi Sasagi have become established NRL players after spending time in Newcastle's development system. All of them have admitted that their Newcastle rejections spurred them on other clubs. Starling, now 27, has played 126 NRL games - all but one of them for Canberra Hosking, 28, was twice named Newcastle's NSW Cup player of the year, but couldn't get a start in first grade and left for Brisbane ahead of the 2022 season where he made his NRL debut that year. He has now played 47 NRL games. Canberra have made somewhat of a habit of signing former Knights players or Hunter products. In addition to Starling, Hosking and Sasagi, the Raiders' top-30 roster features Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi, Hudson Young, Myles Martin and Pasami Saulo, who is returning to the Knights next year. Their five-eighth, Ethan Strange, hails from the Central Coast but did not come through the Knights' system. Jake Clydsdale (Scone Thoroughbreds), Kain Anderson (Central Newcastle) and Caleb Garvie (Cessnock Goannas) are playing in Canberra's lower-grade sides. The Raiders have also signed Knights hooker Jayden Brailey for next season. "The Canberra Knights," Young joked about the growing number of former Newcastle players at the club late last year. Starling, who re-signed with Canberra in May until the end of the 2027 season, looks set to go head-to-head this week with the man he will be competing with for the club's No.9 jersey next year. Both he and Brailey have been named at hooker for their respective sides ahead of Sunday's clash in Canberra. Brailey, who has started at hooker in four of Newcastle's past five games, will link with the Raiders for the next two seasons. Owen Pattie is the other emerging rake on Canberra's roster. A win clear at the top of the NRL points table, the Raiders are on an eight-game winning streak and coming off a 40-16 win over Parramatta on Saturday. The Knights, after a 20-15 loss to the Warriors on Sunday, have kept largely the same side for the 2pm match at GIO Stadium. Experienced forward Jack Hetherington has won a recall. He was named on the bench, while Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. Brodie Jones, who was a late withdrawal from the Warriors match - one of a dozen or so Knights players to fall ill on the eve of the game falling a virus outbreak - is in the extended match squad, which also includes Cant, James Schiller, Matt Arthur and Kyle McCarthy. The Knights should take plenty of confidence into the game, having pushed the fourth-placed Warriors all the way and only lost to Canberra 22-18 a month ago. Sasagi, who has mostly been used in the back row this season, will start in the centres against his former team after Raiders back Sebastian Kris (concussion) was ruled out. It's the rejection that helped fuel Canberra hooker Tom Starling's NRL career, and countless others as well, including some of his Raiders teammates. Starling made his way through Newcastle's development system before making his NRL debut for the Knights at age 20 in the last round of the 2018 season. It would be the Kincumber Colts junior's only first-grade game for the club. "It was old boys' day, I didn't play too bad. I didn't light the house on fire, but I thought I was going to get a contract out of that," Starling said. "But I didn't hear anything back from them. "I don't know if my manager was sheltering me from it ... but ... I run into [former Knights football manager] Darren Mooney down the beach, he was leaving the club ... and I'm just sort of in no man's land waiting for a call and he goes: 'Have you found anything yet?' "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'Oh, haven't they told you? They think you're too small and they're going to bring in another [hooker].' "I rang my manager up and said: 'We've got to go find something else'. "At the time I probably used it as motivation, but looking back on it now, they obviously needed to win right away and thought they'd move in a different direction." Starling, who recalled his Newcastle exit on an episode of the Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns podcast this week, isn't the first Knights product to go on and have a successful career elsewhere after being overlooked, and he certainly won't be the last. It's the nature of the sport. The Knights have a huge catchment area to potentially draw junior players from, ranging from the Central Coast in the south, the Upper Hunter in the west and up along the coast to the north. The club's modus operandi is to try and find and develop the best of them, but you simply can't keep them all. Knights management have previously said, however, that for a period of time they weren't as focused on their own backyard as they should have been. In recent years, the likes of Grant Anderson (Melbourne Storm), Kurt Donoghoe (The Dolphins) and Starling's Canberra teammates Zac Hosking and Simi Sasagi have become established NRL players after spending time in Newcastle's development system. All of them have admitted that their Newcastle rejections spurred them on other clubs. Starling, now 27, has played 126 NRL games - all but one of them for Canberra Hosking, 28, was twice named Newcastle's NSW Cup player of the year, but couldn't get a start in first grade and left for Brisbane ahead of the 2022 season where he made his NRL debut that year. He has now played 47 NRL games. Canberra have made somewhat of a habit of signing former Knights players or Hunter products. In addition to Starling, Hosking and Sasagi, the Raiders' top-30 roster features Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi, Hudson Young, Myles Martin and Pasami Saulo, who is returning to the Knights next year. Their five-eighth, Ethan Strange, hails from the Central Coast but did not come through the Knights' system. Jake Clydsdale (Scone Thoroughbreds), Kain Anderson (Central Newcastle) and Caleb Garvie (Cessnock Goannas) are playing in Canberra's lower-grade sides. The Raiders have also signed Knights hooker Jayden Brailey for next season. "The Canberra Knights," Young joked about the growing number of former Newcastle players at the club late last year. Starling, who re-signed with Canberra in May until the end of the 2027 season, looks set to go head-to-head this week with the man he will be competing with for the club's No.9 jersey next year. Both he and Brailey have been named at hooker for their respective sides ahead of Sunday's clash in Canberra. Brailey, who has started at hooker in four of Newcastle's past five games, will link with the Raiders for the next two seasons. Owen Pattie is the other emerging rake on Canberra's roster. A win clear at the top of the NRL points table, the Raiders are on an eight-game winning streak and coming off a 40-16 win over Parramatta on Saturday. The Knights, after a 20-15 loss to the Warriors on Sunday, have kept largely the same side for the 2pm match at GIO Stadium. Experienced forward Jack Hetherington has won a recall. He was named on the bench, while Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. Brodie Jones, who was a late withdrawal from the Warriors match - one of a dozen or so Knights players to fall ill on the eve of the game falling a virus outbreak - is in the extended match squad, which also includes Cant, James Schiller, Matt Arthur and Kyle McCarthy. The Knights should take plenty of confidence into the game, having pushed the fourth-placed Warriors all the way and only lost to Canberra 22-18 a month ago. Sasagi, who has mostly been used in the back row this season, will start in the centres against his former team after Raiders back Sebastian Kris (concussion) was ruled out. It's the rejection that helped fuel Canberra hooker Tom Starling's NRL career, and countless others as well, including some of his Raiders teammates. Starling made his way through Newcastle's development system before making his NRL debut for the Knights at age 20 in the last round of the 2018 season. It would be the Kincumber Colts junior's only first-grade game for the club. "It was old boys' day, I didn't play too bad. I didn't light the house on fire, but I thought I was going to get a contract out of that," Starling said. "But I didn't hear anything back from them. "I don't know if my manager was sheltering me from it ... but ... I run into [former Knights football manager] Darren Mooney down the beach, he was leaving the club ... and I'm just sort of in no man's land waiting for a call and he goes: 'Have you found anything yet?' "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'Oh, haven't they told you? They think you're too small and they're going to bring in another [hooker].' "I rang my manager up and said: 'We've got to go find something else'. "At the time I probably used it as motivation, but looking back on it now, they obviously needed to win right away and thought they'd move in a different direction." Starling, who recalled his Newcastle exit on an episode of the Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns podcast this week, isn't the first Knights product to go on and have a successful career elsewhere after being overlooked, and he certainly won't be the last. It's the nature of the sport. The Knights have a huge catchment area to potentially draw junior players from, ranging from the Central Coast in the south, the Upper Hunter in the west and up along the coast to the north. The club's modus operandi is to try and find and develop the best of them, but you simply can't keep them all. Knights management have previously said, however, that for a period of time they weren't as focused on their own backyard as they should have been. In recent years, the likes of Grant Anderson (Melbourne Storm), Kurt Donoghoe (The Dolphins) and Starling's Canberra teammates Zac Hosking and Simi Sasagi have become established NRL players after spending time in Newcastle's development system. All of them have admitted that their Newcastle rejections spurred them on other clubs. Starling, now 27, has played 126 NRL games - all but one of them for Canberra Hosking, 28, was twice named Newcastle's NSW Cup player of the year, but couldn't get a start in first grade and left for Brisbane ahead of the 2022 season where he made his NRL debut that year. He has now played 47 NRL games. Canberra have made somewhat of a habit of signing former Knights players or Hunter products. In addition to Starling, Hosking and Sasagi, the Raiders' top-30 roster features Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi, Hudson Young, Myles Martin and Pasami Saulo, who is returning to the Knights next year. Their five-eighth, Ethan Strange, hails from the Central Coast but did not come through the Knights' system. Jake Clydsdale (Scone Thoroughbreds), Kain Anderson (Central Newcastle) and Caleb Garvie (Cessnock Goannas) are playing in Canberra's lower-grade sides. The Raiders have also signed Knights hooker Jayden Brailey for next season. "The Canberra Knights," Young joked about the growing number of former Newcastle players at the club late last year. Starling, who re-signed with Canberra in May until the end of the 2027 season, looks set to go head-to-head this week with the man he will be competing with for the club's No.9 jersey next year. Both he and Brailey have been named at hooker for their respective sides ahead of Sunday's clash in Canberra. Brailey, who has started at hooker in four of Newcastle's past five games, will link with the Raiders for the next two seasons. Owen Pattie is the other emerging rake on Canberra's roster. A win clear at the top of the NRL points table, the Raiders are on an eight-game winning streak and coming off a 40-16 win over Parramatta on Saturday. The Knights, after a 20-15 loss to the Warriors on Sunday, have kept largely the same side for the 2pm match at GIO Stadium. Experienced forward Jack Hetherington has won a recall. He was named on the bench, while Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. Brodie Jones, who was a late withdrawal from the Warriors match - one of a dozen or so Knights players to fall ill on the eve of the game falling a virus outbreak - is in the extended match squad, which also includes Cant, James Schiller, Matt Arthur and Kyle McCarthy. The Knights should take plenty of confidence into the game, having pushed the fourth-placed Warriors all the way and only lost to Canberra 22-18 a month ago. Sasagi, who has mostly been used in the back row this season, will start in the centres against his former team after Raiders back Sebastian Kris (concussion) was ruled out.
The Advertiser
12 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Knights set to confirm major leadership shake-up
The Newcastle Knights are set to announce Peter Parr's elevation to chief executive officer as club powerbroker Philip Gardner steps aside from the role. In changes to be made official on Wednesday, Parr will become CEO of the Knights from November 1. Gardner has held the job since Wests Group assumed control of the Knights in late 2017, but his dual CEO roles, of the Knights and Wests Group, are set to be split. The Knights have confirmed Parr's promotion in an email to club partners, and Knights staff were informed of the changes on Tuesday. A born-and-bred Novocastrian, Parr joined the Knights as football director in mid-2022 after more than two decades with the North Queensland Cowboys, where he held various roles including CEO. He has overseen Newcastle's football department since then, but his duties slightly shifted after the appointment of Chris James last year as football manager. James will become football director once Parr starts as CEO. The changes are part of the club's long-term transition plan. Gardner will remain CEO of Wests Group, continuing to oversee the $100 million hospitality and licensed club empire. He is expected to retire from that role, which he has held since 1995, late next year. As CEO, Gardner has steered the Knights into a new era under Wests Group's ownership. The Knights had run last three years in a row when Wests took over. On-field results have steadily improved with Newcastle making the finals in four of the past five NRL seasons. The club moved into a new training base, worth more than $25 million, at Broadmeadow in 2022 and the football department is now well resourced. Newcastle also launched a women's side in that time, and won back-to-back NRLW premierships in 2022-23. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The club has come under the spotlight more than once for various reasons. It has been criticised at times, fairly or unfairly, for its lack of football nous at board and leadership level, turnover of staff, roster management and junior development. Just last week, the media blowtorch was applied once more when reports emerged that the club was considering moving NRL coach Adam O'Brien on at season's end, and skipper Kalyn Ponga was considering his options. Both are contracted for a further two years. Ponga said in a statement last week that he remained "committed" to the club for that time. O'Brien's NRL side has won six of 18 games this season. Newcastle take on competition leaders Canberra in the nation's capital on Sunday. O'Brien has made just one change to his side that lost to the Warriors 20-15 at the weekend, recalling experienced forward Jack Hetherington. Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. The Newcastle Knights are set to announce Peter Parr's elevation to chief executive officer as club powerbroker Philip Gardner steps aside from the role. In changes to be made official on Wednesday, Parr will become CEO of the Knights from November 1. Gardner has held the job since Wests Group assumed control of the Knights in late 2017, but his dual CEO roles, of the Knights and Wests Group, are set to be split. The Knights have confirmed Parr's promotion in an email to club partners, and Knights staff were informed of the changes on Tuesday. A born-and-bred Novocastrian, Parr joined the Knights as football director in mid-2022 after more than two decades with the North Queensland Cowboys, where he held various roles including CEO. He has overseen Newcastle's football department since then, but his duties slightly shifted after the appointment of Chris James last year as football manager. James will become football director once Parr starts as CEO. The changes are part of the club's long-term transition plan. Gardner will remain CEO of Wests Group, continuing to oversee the $100 million hospitality and licensed club empire. He is expected to retire from that role, which he has held since 1995, late next year. As CEO, Gardner has steered the Knights into a new era under Wests Group's ownership. The Knights had run last three years in a row when Wests took over. On-field results have steadily improved with Newcastle making the finals in four of the past five NRL seasons. The club moved into a new training base, worth more than $25 million, at Broadmeadow in 2022 and the football department is now well resourced. Newcastle also launched a women's side in that time, and won back-to-back NRLW premierships in 2022-23. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The club has come under the spotlight more than once for various reasons. It has been criticised at times, fairly or unfairly, for its lack of football nous at board and leadership level, turnover of staff, roster management and junior development. Just last week, the media blowtorch was applied once more when reports emerged that the club was considering moving NRL coach Adam O'Brien on at season's end, and skipper Kalyn Ponga was considering his options. Both are contracted for a further two years. Ponga said in a statement last week that he remained "committed" to the club for that time. O'Brien's NRL side has won six of 18 games this season. Newcastle take on competition leaders Canberra in the nation's capital on Sunday. O'Brien has made just one change to his side that lost to the Warriors 20-15 at the weekend, recalling experienced forward Jack Hetherington. Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. The Newcastle Knights are set to announce Peter Parr's elevation to chief executive officer as club powerbroker Philip Gardner steps aside from the role. In changes to be made official on Wednesday, Parr will become CEO of the Knights from November 1. Gardner has held the job since Wests Group assumed control of the Knights in late 2017, but his dual CEO roles, of the Knights and Wests Group, are set to be split. The Knights have confirmed Parr's promotion in an email to club partners, and Knights staff were informed of the changes on Tuesday. A born-and-bred Novocastrian, Parr joined the Knights as football director in mid-2022 after more than two decades with the North Queensland Cowboys, where he held various roles including CEO. He has overseen Newcastle's football department since then, but his duties slightly shifted after the appointment of Chris James last year as football manager. James will become football director once Parr starts as CEO. The changes are part of the club's long-term transition plan. Gardner will remain CEO of Wests Group, continuing to oversee the $100 million hospitality and licensed club empire. He is expected to retire from that role, which he has held since 1995, late next year. As CEO, Gardner has steered the Knights into a new era under Wests Group's ownership. The Knights had run last three years in a row when Wests took over. On-field results have steadily improved with Newcastle making the finals in four of the past five NRL seasons. The club moved into a new training base, worth more than $25 million, at Broadmeadow in 2022 and the football department is now well resourced. Newcastle also launched a women's side in that time, and won back-to-back NRLW premierships in 2022-23. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The club has come under the spotlight more than once for various reasons. It has been criticised at times, fairly or unfairly, for its lack of football nous at board and leadership level, turnover of staff, roster management and junior development. Just last week, the media blowtorch was applied once more when reports emerged that the club was considering moving NRL coach Adam O'Brien on at season's end, and skipper Kalyn Ponga was considering his options. Both are contracted for a further two years. Ponga said in a statement last week that he remained "committed" to the club for that time. O'Brien's NRL side has won six of 18 games this season. Newcastle take on competition leaders Canberra in the nation's capital on Sunday. O'Brien has made just one change to his side that lost to the Warriors 20-15 at the weekend, recalling experienced forward Jack Hetherington. Tom Cant has dropped out of the side. The Newcastle Knights are set to announce Peter Parr's elevation to chief executive officer as club powerbroker Philip Gardner steps aside from the role. In changes to be made official on Wednesday, Parr will become CEO of the Knights from November 1. Gardner has held the job since Wests Group assumed control of the Knights in late 2017, but his dual CEO roles, of the Knights and Wests Group, are set to be split. The Knights have confirmed Parr's promotion in an email to club partners, and Knights staff were informed of the changes on Tuesday. A born-and-bred Novocastrian, Parr joined the Knights as football director in mid-2022 after more than two decades with the North Queensland Cowboys, where he held various roles including CEO. He has overseen Newcastle's football department since then, but his duties slightly shifted after the appointment of Chris James last year as football manager. James will become football director once Parr starts as CEO. The changes are part of the club's long-term transition plan. Gardner will remain CEO of Wests Group, continuing to oversee the $100 million hospitality and licensed club empire. He is expected to retire from that role, which he has held since 1995, late next year. As CEO, Gardner has steered the Knights into a new era under Wests Group's ownership. The Knights had run last three years in a row when Wests took over. On-field results have steadily improved with Newcastle making the finals in four of the past five NRL seasons. The club moved into a new training base, worth more than $25 million, at Broadmeadow in 2022 and the football department is now well resourced. Newcastle also launched a women's side in that time, and won back-to-back NRLW premierships in 2022-23. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The club has come under the spotlight more than once for various reasons. It has been criticised at times, fairly or unfairly, for its lack of football nous at board and leadership level, turnover of staff, roster management and junior development. Just last week, the media blowtorch was applied once more when reports emerged that the club was considering moving NRL coach Adam O'Brien on at season's end, and skipper Kalyn Ponga was considering his options. Both are contracted for a further two years. Ponga said in a statement last week that he remained "committed" to the club for that time. O'Brien's NRL side has won six of 18 games this season. Newcastle take on competition leaders Canberra in the nation's capital on Sunday. O'Brien has made just one change to his side that lost to the Warriors 20-15 at the weekend, recalling experienced forward Jack Hetherington. Tom Cant has dropped out of the side.
The Australian
15 hours ago
- The Australian
AFL 2025: Western Bulldogs champion Marcus Bontempelli decides his future
Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli has committed the rest of his career to the club after penning a new deal to remain at Whitten Oval for a further four seasons. A day after being named the second greatest player in the club's history, and after almost a year of growing speculation around his future, Bontempelli inked a deal which will keep him a Bulldog until he is 34. It will take his time at the club to 16 seasons and push him well beyond 300 games, injudy permitting, having already racked up 253 since his 2014 debut. His resume includes the 2016 premiership, six best-and-fairest awards and six All-Australian nods. Bontempelli said the delay in doing his deal was due to a 'few different things happening' including getting married, but was never in doubt. 'This club means so much to me, it's hard to put it into a few words to be honest,' he said. 'It is where I have grown as a man and spent all of my adult years coming here at 18. Marcus Bontempelli will be a Bulldog for life. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images) 'When I think about the person I want to become it has been influenced by the people I have spent a lot of time with at the Western Bulldogs. 'I owe so much from a footballing experience perspective but I think I really owe a lot of my maturing as a person and as a man to the football club. 'For me, it's such a special place, the fans, the people that have supported me along the way. I've never not felt supported by our people here at the Club. 'I feel incredibly lucky to have had that for so long.' The new deal for Bontempelli adds him to a list of key recontracted stars which includes teammates Tim English and Sam Darcy, with Aaron Naughton Premiership winning coach Luke Beveridge has also signed to a two-year extension last month. Bontempelli was unveiled as the second greatest Bulldog, behind only Ted Whitten, on Monday night at the club's centenary celebration.
