Steve Kneen (born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played for the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

competition. He was also selected on the 1978 tour to Britain with the Australian side but did not play in a Test. He primarily played at second-row forward.

Biography

Early career

Kneen started his junior career with Sutherland Loftus United in the CSDRFL before moving south to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

to work in the mines. While playing in the Illawarra District competition with Helensburg, Kneen was spotted by the Sharks.

Playing career

In 1976 he was signed by the

. He made his first-grade debut against

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

on 21 March 1976. Kneen played in both the drawn grand final in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and the subsequent replay the same year. He was selected to go on the

1978 Kangaroo tour The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France, and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and captai ...

with the Australian side and played in six tour matches. In 1981, Kneen was suspended for fifteen weeks after being found guilty of a head-high tackle on a player and tackling a player not in possession of the ball. Kneen was sent from the field after tackling

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

hooker Alan Latham. In 1982, Kneen received a twelve-month suspension and he left Cronulla-Sutherland at the end of the season. The following year he captain-coached Bowral in the

Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rug ...

. In 1984 he accepted a contract with the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...

but after ten games in reserve grade a bad

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury ended his second professional stint and he retired from the game.

References

Sources

External links

Steve Kneen at eraofthebiff.com
1953 births Rugby league players from Sydney Australian rugby league players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Australia national rugby league team players Living people Rugby league second-rows {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub