Matthew Knights seemed lost to footy. These people helped bring him back

July 18, 2026 — 5:30am

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Shortly after Jeromey Webberley took on the historic role as Tasmania’s first VFL coach, club boss Brendon Gale mentioned the prospect of Matthew Knights as a potential assistant to him.

“You mean the Matthew Knights?” Webberley asked before responding enthusiastically.

And so, as the highly credentialled cohort of his supporters cautiously agree, the full circle of Knights’ professional and private rehabilitation was completed. It was a journey punctuated with moments of darkness towards the end of Knights’ time at West Coast and upon his return home to Geelong.

That was in the winter of 2024 when his beloved game briefly seemed lost to Knights as he battled through personal issues and the unfortunate consequences of living apart from his family for the best part of three seasons.

Months of strong support from family and close friends followed, along with varying degrees of encouragement and practical help from the three club chiefs who had witnessed at close hand Knights’ prodigious ability to connect with young players.

Longtime West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett, who with Adam Simpson had lured Knights from Geelong in late 2021, was determined that Knights not be lost to the game. He voiced his concerns to Cats boss Steve Hocking and Gale and addressed Knights’ plight with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon.

All played various roles in helping Knights. Hocking, who was also navigating Tanner Bruhn’s highly sensitive one-year exile from the game and Bailey Smith’s tumultuous debut season at Kardinia Park, quietly provided contact hours throughout the 2025 season for the longtime Cats VFL and assistant coach. All the while, Hocking remained in contact with Gale,........

© The Sydney Morning Herald