Taree boy Adam Woolnough only ever wanted to play for the Knights and finished with more than 100 NRL games for the club before falling foul of coach Brian Smith’s controversial player clean-out in 2007. He takes us through what happened and how it affected the main players.
After stints with Penrith and a final season with competition powerhouse Melbourne Storm, Woolnough is now kicking goals on the sporting front off the field, coaching the Storm’s Jersey
Flegg development squad in Melbourne and working for the Australian Institute of Sport in athlete engagement and welfare.
When Adam Woolnough lost his mother as a teen fresh out of home, the thought of leaving the Knights popped into his mind.
It was a fleeting thought. But he quickly realised the best way to honour her memory was to keep chasing his NRL dream.
Having relocated straight out of school at the end of 1999, this country boy from Taree kept working. Not just on the field but off it too.
Boarding with an elderly couple in Adamstown, Woolnough worked odd jobs to offset his part time wage with the Knights.
“I had to really find my way as there was no job waiting for me,” Woolnough said.
“I didn’t go to University, I was working in nursery, retail, local bottle shops and it was really a struggle to make ends meet in that first year.
