Peden Primed For Final Home Game

Newcastle Herald

Friday September 13, 2002

By NEIL GOFFET

NEWCASTLE fans will be swinging from the rafters at EnergyAustralia Stadium tomorrow night to farewell a champion in Knights club captain Bill Peden.

Peden was officially farewelled after the Knights thumped Brisbane 40-10 in their last home game of the regular season, but tomorrow night is the last time the red-and-blue army will see him play in Newcastle.

A veteran of nine seasons at the Knights, Peden will take fourth place from Marc Glanville on the all-time list with 189 first-grade games for the Knights. Tony Butterfield played 229, Robbie O'Davis 192, and Andrew Johns will play his 190th game tomorrow night.

`It was good to get the last game over and done with a couple of weeks ago,' Peden said. `Everyone has given me a nice farewell and I'm very appreciative of that, but now it is business as usual come Saturday night.'

The Cessnock product will spend next season in the English Super League but is not making any announcements until after the Knights' finals charge is over.

Finishing second on the ladder affords the Knights the luxury of staying alive in the finals series if they are beaten, but Peden is confident they can bounce back from last Sunday's 40-22 loss to the Dragons at Aussie Stadium.

`We've worked very hard over the last couple of days on preparing the little areas we faltered in last week, and I think we've gone a long way to doing that.'

Halfback Andrew Johns polished his goalkicking skills yesterday with former Bulldogs great Daryl Halligan. Johns has booted 101 goals this season to finish second on the NRL's leading pointscorers list.

Ticket sales have been steady all week but there are still more than 4000 available.

Fans can also get corporate boxes for tomorrow's qualifying final by contacting the Knights office on 4927-6444.

Parking on the night will be available in the Showground.

Shuttle buses will take supporters to the ground from 3.30pm and deliver them back after the game from 9.30pm. AAP reports: St George Illawarra centre Shaun Timmins will watch tomorrow night's qualifying final from the sideline after suffering a season-ending knee injury.

But the 26-year-old is expected to make a full recovery by the start of next season after receiving the results of an athroscopy.

`I've worked so hard to get back on the park and we've forced our way into the play-offs with a great win over Newcastle - and then this happens,' Timmins said.