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![\"Kalyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fanfest_fremont_gt_0050.jpg\"\/)
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\n Kalyn Ponga and Knights players lap up the atmosphere at the Fremont Street Fan Fest
\n \u00a9Grant Trouville\/NRL Photos
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There was a moment during the Knights\u2019 final training run at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday (AEDT) when former captain Kurt Gidley wished he was out there with the current crop of players.<\/p>\n
The previous night, Gidley struggled to hold back tears while hosting an event for Knights supporters who an hour earlier had been part of a 16,000-strong crowd at the NRL\u2019s Fremont Street Fan Fest.<\/p>\n
Fellow \u201cOnce-A-Knight” Old Boys Mark Hughes and Danny Buderus shared Gidley\u2019s sentiments, making their feelings known in front of hundreds of the blue-and-red faithful at a fan function at Las Vegas\u2019s Hard Rock Cafe just 24 hours before kick-off against North Queensland.<\/p>\n
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\n Kalyn Ponga and Knights players lap up the atmosphere at the Fremont Street Fan Fest
\n \u00a9Grant Trouville\/NRL Photos
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Gidley and Hughes have been in Las Vegas for the past week as club ambassadors, spending time with Knights officials and sponsors, and hosting fan events at various Las Vegas locations.<\/p>\n
Buderus has been on duty as an assistant on new mentor Justin Holbrook\u2019s coaching staff, helping the Knights prepare for their season-opener against the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
\u201cMyself and Mark, we play a role as ambassadors for the club throughout the year, hosting different things, so we\u2019re very grateful to still be involved in footy in that way and to still be involved with the Newcastle Knights,\u201d Gidley told NRL.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be here in Las Vegas, hosting events like these, it\u2019s been an incredible experience all week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe what we\u2019ve seen so far. It\u2019s been a real carnival atmosphere \u2013 a bit like Magic Round \u2013 but there\u2019s been some real \u2018pinch yourself\u2019 moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see so many of our supporters here tonight, and last night at Fremont Street. We had a post-Fremont Street party for Knights supporters, and it was pumping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a stadium tour today at Allegiant and it\u2019s such a phenomenal venue, and these are the moments when I wish I was pulling the boots back on and playing.<\/p>\n
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\n ![\"Kurt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gids-boozy.jpg\"\/)
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\n Kurt Gidley and Mark Hughes were emotional at the Knights’ ‘Hard Rock Cafe event for fans.
\n \u00a9NRL Knights
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\u201cI got emotional doing an interview with \u2018Hughesy\u2019 last night, because I just couldn\u2019t believe the support that we have over here.<\/p>\n
“For all these passionate Knights fans to be over here to watch their team play in Las Vegas, it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hughes, one of only five Knights to have played in both of the club\u2019s 1997 and 2001 grand final triumphs, was a firm fan favourite in the 161 games he played between 1997 and 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long way from Turton Road, New Lambton to Las Vegas, and at times it\u2019s felt like we\u2019re still in Newcastle, with the Newcastle chants we keep hearing,\u201d Hughes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen some familiar faces from back when I was playing, a lot of old supporters, meeting new ones, and they\u2019ve all got that love and passion for the red-and-blue jersey, so it\u2019s nice to see that.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is expensive over here, and they\u2019ve no doubt saved hard to make the trip over here, but they\u2019ve got smiles on their faces and they\u2019re living their best lives over here, getting out and meeting people and enjoying the whole Las Vegas experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fortunate enough to play in the 1997 and 2001 grand finals and saw those street parades back home, all that build-up, and Fan Fest gave me some flashbacks of those days. It\u2019s been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Affection for the popular Kurri Kurri junior has extended beyond the Hunter\u2019s boundaries since his own diagnosis in 2013 inspired him to form the Mark Hughes Foundation to raise funds and awareness for brain cancer research.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been heart-warming,\u201d Hughes said.\u00a0\u201cWith our Beanies for Brain Cancer charity, every club has been so supportive, which is nice, and Knights fans have always been there for me and all the Newcastle players.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing to events and just chatting to fans has been one of our most important jobs over here, just to thank them for making such a huge effort to come over here and support us.<\/p>\n
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\n ![\"There](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/640396319_18567007231014597_4245790697352301428_n.jpg\"\/)
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\n There were 16,000 fans at Fremont Street for the Fan Fest.
\n \u00a9NRL Knights
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\u201cThe Newcastle players can definitely feel the support that\u2019s over here for them, and they know they\u2019ve got a responsibility to put their best foot forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking to the coaches and the players at different times this week, I\u2019m confident they\u2019re going to put their best foot forward \u2013 not just in round one over here, but all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buderus, the most capped player in Knights history with 257 NRL games to his name, said the players had been overwhelmed by the sight of so many supporters in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll week, you see them around the streets, in the resort, all the teams and their supporters, they\u2019re all having these different experiences and enjoying what Vegas has to offer,\u201d Buderus said.<\/p>\n
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\n ![\"Knights](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fanfest_fremont_gt_0033.jpg\"\/)
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\n Knights legend Danny Buderus is blown away by the level of support in Vegas
\n \u00a9Grant Trouville\/NRL Photos
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\u201cWe set the week up really well, coming over here last Friday, getting to enjoy a bit of that Vegas life and experience into us all, then zeroing in on the game all week. It\u2019s so unique, and so different to what anyone has been through before.<\/p>\n
“Even for the teams that have been over here for the last two Vegas trips, I don\u2019t think they\u2019d have experienced what the teams experienced at Fremont Street last night because it just keeps building and building and building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the players all experienced last night, it was one of those \u2018pinch me\u2019 moments. It was such a wonderful celebration of the game for all six teams \u2013 the four NRL teams plus Leeds and Hull KR.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having notched 83 English Super League games for Leeds from 2009 to 2011, the former Newcastle, NSW and Australian captain and hooker has been blown away by the support he has received from Rhinos fans on tour in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got some mates from all over the globe here \u2013 including a lot of mates from Leeds,\u201d the NRL Hall of Famer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s been hard because I\u2019ve got the coach\u2019s hat on, so I don\u2019t know how to interact with it all because it\u2019s too difficult to catch up with everyone, but you put all that to one side because we\u2019re all here for the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou play sport for new experiences, whether that\u2019s winning a grand final, winning a State of Origin series, winning in golden point, playing with your mates.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s why you play the game, for new experiences like this, and these boys are going to have an amazing experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the best stadiums they\u2019ll ever get to play on \u2013 if not the best \u2013 so what an opportunity for them. Just walking around there today, you could see how dialled in the players were, knowing the stage they\u2019re about to play on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gidley, who also captained Newcastle and NSW, sits second behind Buderus on the Knights’ all-time list of games played with 251 appearances for his home-town club from 2001 to 2015.<\/p>\n
\n 599″, “>809”, “>959″]”
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<\/p>\n
Knights in Las Vegas: Dialing in<\/p>\n
Though he and Hughes have enjoyed the social interactions with Knights fans, and the many attractions and distractions Las Vegas offers, Gidley felt certain the players were focused on the challenge of starting the season on the right foot against the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the players are disciplined and professional enough not to get too caught up in the external stuff,\u201d Gidley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve still got to enjoy it, but at the end of the day, when you get into your team meetings, going to training, pulling your boots on for game day, you\u2019ve got a job to do, and that\u2019s to win the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0the purpose of being over here and I know the new coaching staff, club management,\u00a0all\u00a0the players,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0all mindful of that.\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0just love to be out there with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a moment during the Knights\u2019 final training run at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday (AEDT) when former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-509611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}