On Thursday August 1, the Kiama Knights first-grade team announced they would be forfeiting their Round 16 clash against the first-placed Shellharbour Sharks.

The Kiama Knights have struggled to field a team all year due to injuries, and Co-coach Marc Laird says luck just hasn’t been on their side.

“We’ve been battling the last few weeks to field a competitive first-grade side and against Albion Park last week we lost another 3 players due to injury during that game. And rolling the team out this week we found it was probably best for the players if we just forfeited this week, unfortunately,” says Laird.

The Knights have had a horror run with injuries throughout the year, with many players being forced out with season-ending injuries.

“Our injury toll has been horrendous. Every week you get one back and then you lose another three. And they’re not short-term injuries either, they’re all serious, year-ending injuries. And we feel for them in terms of their employment, they’re risking a lot to play. But yeah, it's just been one of those years where it's been unfortunate,” says Laird.

To make up for the injuries, players from the reserve grade side have been forced to play two games most weeks, and captain Kieran Poole says this just wasn’t sustainable.

“The toll has had an impact on reserve grade as well. Most of the guys backing up have had to play two games each week. It’s obviously not ideal, but it has gotten to the point where it’s unavoidable,” says Poole.

The Knights sit at eighth on the 2024 group seven first-grade ladder with three wins (whereas the reserve grade team sits at fourth), but Laird points to their success early in the year as an indication of how the team's season could have gone if it weren’t for injuries.

“We were very competitive at the start of the year. Just look at the Nowra games, the first time we versed Nowra we won and then the second time we versed them, a couple of weeks ago, they beat us by 60,” says Laird.

Despite the adversity, Laird is adamant that the team will finish out the year. “It’s absolutely our intention to be back on the field for the last 2 rounds,” says Laird.

The Knights will play Milton-Ulladulla and Gerringong in the last two games of the 2024 season.