The Kiama Knights are an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

football team based in

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

, a coastal town of the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

and South Coast regions. The club was formed in 1914 as one of the founding members of South Coast Rugby League, and continue to participate in this league's local competition.

History

On 30 May 1914, Kiama kicked off the inaugural South Coast Rugby League competition with a 6–3 home win at Kiama Showground against nearest neighbour and soon to be biggest rivals, Gerringong. Gerringong, however, would go on to take out the premiership final with an 11–10 victory at the Kiama Showground, a match that would charge a sixpence to attend. Kiama won their first premiership in August 1925, defeating Kangaroo Valley in a final. In 1930, Kiama merged with Bombo and they won the title that year. As Bombo-Kiama, the club won the title again in 1933. In 1940 the team would be only referred to by Kiama and this team won the first of four consecutive titles in 1945, an achievement which has not been surpassed in the league to this day. Kiama has won 12 Group 7 premierships overall, behind Gerringong (16) and equal with

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

and Albion Park (12).

Name and emblem

The Kiama Knights were not always known by this moniker. In 1918, when the competition reformed after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the club was known as the Dinkums, before switching to Warriors the following year. In 1923 the club was known as the Starlights. The Kiama Knights emblem is adopted from that of the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

Colours

The colours used by the Kiama side are red, black and white, following a similar strip to that of the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

Sydney team, the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

Home ground

The Kiama Knights have played out of the Kiama Showground since their inception in 1914. At one stage this ground was called "Church Point", due to its geographical location. The showground has undergone a recent development to its grandstand and pavilion in 2009.

Notable past players

* Shaun Timmins (1994–06

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 13 December 1980, they were the ...

& St. George Illawarra Dragons) * Brett Morris (2006– St. George Illawarra Dragons,

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

) * Josh Morris (2007– St. George Illawarra Dragons,

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

) * Mitch Rein (2011– St. George Illawarra Dragons,

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

)

Honours

Team

Group 7 Rugby League South Coast Group 7 Rugby League (or Group 7 Rugby League for simplicity) is the divisional boundary drawn from the Southern Illawarra and South Coast regions (from the suburb of Warilla south to Ulladulla) of New South Wales, Australia and is ...

Premierships: 12 :: 1925, 1930, 1933, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1969, 1983, 1985, 2019 * Group 7 Rugby League Runners-Up: 14 :: 1918, 1919, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1951, 1953, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1991, 2017, 2018 * Group 7 Second Grade Premierships: 12 :: 1919, 1921, 1923, 1929, 1936, 1950, 1951, 1982, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 * First Grade Minor Premierships: 14 :: 1930, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1969, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991 * Group 7 U-18's Premierships: 8 :: 1945, 1946, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2013, 2016 * Women's League Tag: 5 :: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 * Leo O'Dwyer Cups: 4 :: 1948, 1949, 1950, 1985

Individual

* Michael Cronin Medal: 5 :: Peter Gentle (1991), Andrew Jackson (1998), Daniel Gunning (2002 & 2006), Cameron Vazzoler (2018) *

Player of the Year: 4 :: Peter French (1983), Graham Murtagh (1995), Mark Duncan (2004), Daniel Gunning (2006) * Group 7 Rugby League Rookie of the Year: 2 :: Graham Murtagh (1983), Mitch Rein (2008) * Group 7 Rugby League Leading Point-scorer: 1 :: Tony Fitler (1984) * Group 7 Rugby League Leading Try-scorer: 4 :: Peter Gentle (1983), Ian Howcroft (1986), Robert Baillie (1989), Jeremy Alger (2008) * Group 7 Under-21s Player of the Year: 2 :: Scott Morris (2001), John Elliott (2006) * Group 7 Under-18s Player of the Year: 3 :: Dean Antony (1992), Paul Ross (2003), James Gilmore (2009) * Kevin Walsh Scholarship: 8 :: Joe Murphy (1982), Dean Smith (1985), John Watkins & Scott England (1988), Matt Duggan (1990), Samuel Burke (1999), Josh Elliott (2001), Mitch Rein (2005) ''Source:''

References

External links

Kiama Knights Homepage

Country Rugby League Homepage
*

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, Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with ...

South Coast Rugby League Homepage
{{Group 7 Rugby League Rugby clubs established in 1914 1914 establishments in Australia Rugby league teams in New South Wales South Coast (New South Wales)