Peter Knights (born 30 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the finest centre half-backs to have played the game, despite suffering numerous injuries. He was recognized for his contribution to the game when he was among the inaugural inductees into the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996 and later in the Hawthorn Team of the Century.

Playing career

Recruited from Longwarry, Knights made his debut with Hawthorn in a loss against St. Kilda at Moorabbin in Round 9, 1969. He became easily identifiable on the field with his blond hair and his ability to frequently take spectacular high marks. He was also a great exponent of the drop kick and the torpedo punt kick.

After playing only five games in his debut season, Knights established himself in the first team in 1970. The following year he did so well in that position that he was chosen for Victoria, but missed out on Hawthorn's 1971 Premiership success due to the first of a large number of injuries.

Knights was moved briefly to full-forward in 1972 after a serious knee injury to Peter Hudson forced Hawthorn to experiment in the position before finally settling on Michael Moncrieff. He actually finished as Hawthorn's leading goalkicking with 46 goals, but was moved back to defence before the season was over. After injury problems restricted his 1973 season, for the next three years Knights was rated the best centre half-back in the game. But for a broken collarbone, he would probably have won the 1976 Brownlow Medal, and he was widely regarded as Man-of-the-Match in both the 1975 and 1976 Grand Finals. He was a member of Hawthorn's premiership sides in 1976, 1978 and 1983 and won the club championship in 1975.

From 1977 onwards Knights was frequently rested up forward to reduce the risk of injuries, but still did enough great work at centre half-back to finish one vote behind Malcolm Blight in the 1978 Brownlow Medal count. However, injuries restricted him to 26 games out of 66 between 1979 and 1981, but - now playing permanently up forward - Knights rebounded to play impressive football in 1983. A major knee injury restricted him to four games in 1984, but in his last season he showed traces of brilliant form - kicking nine goals against Carlton in Round 10 - but form lapses led to him being relegated to the Reserves for the Grand Final.

Coaching career

Although Knights enjoyed spectacular success on the field, it was a different story as a coach. However, it should also be remembered that he was in charge of teams that were either relatively new and inexperienced (Brisbane), or undergoing restructuring (Hawthorn).

In 1986, the VFL decided to expand and include one team each from Western Australia and Queensland. The Brisbane Bears, based on the Gold Coast in South East Queensland, recruited Knights as their inaugural coach, despite his lack of coaching experience. The club won their first game, and although expectations of the new side were low, it was considered a significant achievement that the team was able to avoid finishing last in their first season.

Despite this, the Bears' results in 1988 and 1989 failed to improve, with the club suffering regular thrashings. Knights was dismissed as coach with seven games remaining in the 1989 season and replaced with team psychologist, Paul Feltham. Knights was considered to have been unlucky, as ineffective club management and poor relationships amongst his underperforming players seen as major contributing factors in the club's performance.

After a brief coaching stint at Tasmanian club Devonport from 1990 to 1993, Knights returned to Hawthorn as senior coach for the 1994 AFL season. He managed to lead the team into the Finals series, but were knocked out by North Melbourne in the first final. The following year the team finished second last, however, and Knights was again sacked.

References

External links

• Player stats at AFL tables