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4 unusual facts about 2006 Newcastle Knights season


2006 Newcastle Knights season

Andrew Johns broke the NRL all-time pointscoring record (since broken again by Hazem El Masri) previously held by Jason Taylor, against the Parramatta Eels at Parramatta Stadium in round 18.

Despite trailing 18-6 at halftime, the Knights won its first final since their 2001 Grand Final victory by winning 25-18, but the win came at a cost with hooker Danny Buderus suspended for a spear tackle on Manly winger Michael Robertson, ruling him out of Newcastle's following final against the Brisbane Broncos in what was the last ever Johns vs. Lockyer showdown.

Following a hiccup in round four against the New Zealand Warriors, the Knights headed down to Wollongong and thrashed the St. George Illawarra Dragons 54-6; therefore exacting revenge following the Dragons' 48-2 win in 2004 (the first match for Newcastle since Andrew Johns suffered a season-ending knee injury that year).

The 2006 season was dominated early by news that coaches Michael Hagan and Brian Smith, who were coaching the Knights and the Parramatta Eels respectively at the time, were to swap clubs from the 2007 season onwards.



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