Peter Knights

Peter Knights (born 30 March 1952) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After retiring as a player, he was appointed the inaugural coach of the Brisbane Bears and later returned to coach Hawthorn during the 1990s.

Knights is regarded as one of the greatest centre half-backs to have ever played Australian rules football, thrilling and endearing himself to spectators with his fair play and superb skills, most notably his spectacular high marking and prodigious torpedo punt kicking. He was one of the inaugural inductees when the Australian Football Hall of Fame was launched in 1996, and was appointed the eighth Legend in Hawthorn's Hall of Fame in 2017.^[1] Although considered unlucky not to win the game's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal - having twice finished runner-up in the vote count - Knights was nonetheless part of three VFL premiership teams during a highly successful era for the Hawks.

It was fortuitous for Hawthorn that Knights' career coincided with that of fellow Hawthorn and AFL champion Leigh Matthews, with both making their senior VFL debuts in the same year (1969) and also finishing their careers the same year (1985). However, while Matthews' robust physique enabled him to play well over 300 games, Knights - who was no less courageous in going for the ball - struggled to reach 250 games over the same time period due to the many serious injuries he suffered over the course of his playing career.