Gidley: "I didn't want to keep the younger guys out"

WHEN Kurt Gidley was first associated with the Newcastle Knights he was just 13 years of age.

After brother Matt had finished his game Kurt would wander around the dressing room picking up players boots before taking them away. He'd then return a little while later with every player's suit.

It was the kind of kid he was, and it would be the kind of player the NRL would become accustomed to. Not afraid to do the less glamorous work for the greater good of the team.

But after 20 years with the club the Knights fullback will leave at the end of this season to pursue another challenge in the English Super League at Warrington from 2016.

"This club has meant the world to me and it's been the majority of my life," he said.

"I was a bit sad when I came to the realisation that this year will be my last year at the Newcastle Knights but it's more relief now that I've come to terms with it and I want to make the most of the rest of the year."

In typical Gidley style he said the plethora of exciting backs coming through the ranks allowed him the chance to make way while letting them develop in the blue and red.

"It was the time to move on. There are some great young guys who have been re-signed with the club which is great and there's a few more to be done and I would hate to keep those young guys out," he said.

"I didn't want to keep out any of the younger guys ... If I pressured the club to re-sign, those guys might have left.''

Knights CEO Matt Gidley said his younger brother's intentions had always been on other things and not just himself.

"Right from the start Kurt made it really clear the priority for the club should be in retaining the best young talent that we have," he said.

"That's the future. It's not only the talent that's in the players but the type of characters they are too."

Coach Rick Stone was full of praise for his departing skipper.

"I think back to our inaugural coach Allan McMahon and his credo was to be the player everyone wants to play with and I think if anyone has lived by that credo better than Kurt than I haven't met him in this club."

Gidley remained focused on the remaining two-thirds of the 2015 season and said the side needed to return to their winning ways as they look to snap a four-game losing streak this weekend.

"Hopefully my best Newcastle Knights moment is yet to come," he said.

"At the start of the year the dream is to win the grand final. The dream for me is to win every competitive drill that I train in as well as every game every week. But that's the big picture, we need to make the top eight to start with and then take the next step from there."