Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002, before going on to forge a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010. He later became the head coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club from 2012–14, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final.

Playing career

Knights wore the number 33 guernsey in 279 games between 1988-2002 for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

whom he captained between 1997-2000. Playing in Richmond's midfield for the majority of his career, Knights was known for his ball winning ability if not his athleticism. Gifted with excellent "vision" or spatial awareness, and consistently reliable delivery from his left boot, given time and space Knights was one of the most damaging midfielders in the AFL throughout the 90s. Though rewarded with numerous individual honors playing in a mediocre team, Knights made only two appearances with the

in the AFL Finals Series in 1995 and 2001. He was placed top four in the team's annual best and fairest vote seven times between 1990 and 2000, and tied for fourth place in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

count of 1995. Knights' career was interrupted by a serious ankle injury in Round 2 of 1996 and a knee injury in the pre-season Ansett Cup competition in 1997. Late in 1998 he became one of the first high-profile AFL players to be diagnosed with the debilitating groin condition

osteitis pubis Osteitis pubis is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubis symphysis (also known as the pubic symphysis, symphysis pubis, or symphysis pubica), causing varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis was first described in pa ...

, which dogged him through much of the remainder of his career. His courage in leading his team despite these set-backs made him much admired by his team's supporters and his removal as captain just before the beginning of the 2001 season caused much controversy (despite this, Richmond went on to finish the season as preliminary finalists). In Round 2 he was the centre of a further public controversy when struck behind play by

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

player Tony Liberatore, who was suspended for five matches as a result. Inability to maintain high expectations saw Knights' retirement as a player towards the end of the 2002 season.

Coaching career

Early career

Knights was quickly recruited as assistant coach for the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

Port Adelaide Magpies Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, whilst its reserves ...

and replaced Stephen Williams as senior coach the following year. Having played a major role in restructuring the club's playing list, but without having reached the finals, he resigned at the end of 2004 by mutual consent to become the senior coach the

Bendigo Bombers The Bendigo Gold Football Club was an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1998 until 2014, under the nicknames Diggers, Bombers and Gold at different ti ...

in the VFL, while also acting as an assistant coach with the Essendon Football Club in the AFL for the 2007 season.

Essendon Football Club senior coach

In July 2007, Essendon announced that long-standing senior coach Kevin Sheedy would be replaced at the end of the 2007 AFL season and in September 2007, Knights was appointed as the club's new senior coach. In 2009, Knights coached Essendon to its first finals series since 2004, but the team was soundly beaten by

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in the elimination final. In the 2010 season, Essendon won seven games and failed to make the finals. Criticism of Knights coaching performance increased during the season. On 12 August 2010, Essendon's CEO Ian Robson stated that Knights would continue as senior coach in 2011, but he was, nonetheless, sacked two weeks later on the day after Essendon's final round loss to the

. He had two years remaining on his contract. Essendon won 25, drew one and lost 41 matches under Knights, during which they enjoyed three consecutive victories against

Alastair Clarkson Alastair Thomas Clarkson (born 27 April 1968) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the North Melbourne Football Club. He was previously the head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club in the ...

and the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

. Knights was replaced by

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...

as Essendon Football Club senior coach.

other coaching roles

For the 2011 season, Knights worked with the

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

football team in Kew. During the 2012 season Knights was coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club. He coached the team to the 2012 VFL premiership.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 4 , , 3 , , 8 , , 42 , , 21 , , 63 , , 17 , , 4 , , 0.8 , , 2.0 , , 10.5 , , 5.3 , , 15.8 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 19 , , 9 , , 8 , , 192 , , 147 , , 339 , , 47 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 10.1 , , 7.7 , , 17.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.7 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 19 , , 7 , , 348 , , 203 , , 551 , , 63 , , 52 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 15.8 , , 9.2 , , 25.0 , , 2.9 , , 2.4 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 16 , , 11 , , 317 , , 218 , , 535 , , 81 , , 34 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 14.4 , , 9.9 , , 24.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.5 , , 17 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1992 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 16 , , 12 , , 289 , , 225 , , 514 , , 67 , , 34 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 13.1 , , 10.2 , , 23.4 , , 3.0 , , 1.5 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 11 , , 15 , , 290 , , 216 , , 506 , , 65 , , 44 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 14.5 , , 10.8 , , 25.3 , , 3.3 , , 2.2 , , 13 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 14 , , 11 , , 221 , , 162 , , 383 , , 49 , , 42 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 11.1 , , 8.1 , , 19.2 , , 2.5 , , 2.1 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 24 , , 12 , , 7 , , 306 , , 222 , , 528 , , 53 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 12.8 , , 9.3 , , 22.0 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 10 , , 1 , , 3 , , 87 , , 66 , , 153 , , 36 , , 24 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 8.7 , , 6.6 , , 15.3 , , 3.6 , , 2.4 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 11 , , 2 , , 4 , , 129 , , 87 , , 216 , , 34 , , 22 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 11.7 , , 7.9 , , 19.6 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , , 8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 6 , , 4 , , 289 , , 229 , , 518 , , 56 , , 61 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 14.5 , , 11.5 , , 25.9 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 5 , , 4 , , 254 , , 210 , , 464 , , 55 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.5 , , 9.5 , , 21.1 , , 2.5 , , 2.0 , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 11 , , 6 , , 240 , , 212 , , 452 , , 82 , , 52 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 10.9 , , 9.6 , , 20.5 , , 3.7 , , 2.4 , , 9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 25 , , 12 , , 9 , , 234 , , 230 , , 464 , , 75 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 9.4 , , 9.2 , , 18.6 , , 3.0 , , 2.6 , , 7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 16 , , 4 , , 2 , , 118 , , 134 , , 252 , , 44 , , 31 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.4 , , 8.4 , , 15.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 279 ! 141 ! 111 ! 3356 ! 2582 ! 5938 ! 824 ! 613 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 12.0 ! 9.3 ! 21.3 ! 3.0 ! 2.2 ! 114

Coaching statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 8 , , 14 , , 0 , , 36.4% , , 12 , , 16 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" , 2009 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 10 , , 12 , , 1 , , 45.7% , , 8 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" , 2010 , style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 7 , , 15 , , 0 , , 31.8% , , 14 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 67 ! 25 ! 41 ! 1 ! 38.1% ! colspan=2,

Honours

* Richmond Football Club Best and Fairest 1990, 1992 * Richmond Football Club Captain 1997-2000 *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

1998 * Richmond Football Club Team of The Century * AFL Life Member * VFL Premiership Coach 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knights, Matthew Richmond Football Club players Essendon Football Club coaches Port Adelaide Magpies coaches Victorian State of Origin players Jack Dyer Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) 1970 births Living people People educated at Melbourne High School Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)