It was a great year for new nib Newcastle Knights recruit Aidan Guerra.
Knights fans fell in love with the hardworking backrower from the first whistle of the 2018 season.
His tremendous work rate and tough brand of footy were qualities that this young Knights squad needed.
Guerra played in all 24 games for the Knights this season, an achievement he shared with only one other player (Shaun Kenny-Dowall) in the team.
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The 30-year-old finished as the league's seventh best in average tackles made with 39.8.
He made 954 tackles which was the most by any Knight and was his personal best in a season beating his previous best by 180 tackles.
Guerra crossed the line five time in 2018.
When skipper Mitchell Pearce went down with a pectoral muscle in Round 7, Guerra took over as the Knights captain.
In his first game as skipper, Guerra lead the team to a victory against Manly.
The win against Manly created history for Newcastle as it was the first time since 1999 that they had beaten the Sea Eagles twice in a season.
At the end of the season, Guerra picked up both the Coaches Award and the Gladiator Award at the Danny Buderus Medal Awards night.
2018 Moment of the Year: Round 8 v Manly
The first couple of days have been really special
Skipper Mitchell Pearce had gone down in the Round 7 clash against the West Tigers and Guerra was called upon to be captain for the first time in his career.
It was a close game and Guerra was looking to inspire his team in the absence of Pearce.
In the 7th minute, Manly had the ball 15-metres out from the try-line.
Guerra displayed a never say die attitude as he spotted an overlap on the right edge.
He made an enormous amount of ground as the Sea Eagles five-eighth broke the line and made a beeline to the try-line.
He wrapped up Lachlan Croker just before the try-line. He was able to spin him around and cause a knock on.
It was one of the best try-saving tackles of the 2018 NRL season.
In a tight game where the Knights won by six points, it was a very important moment in the match.
A real captain's knock.
2018 season stats:
Games: 24
Avg running metres: 99.1m
Tackles made: 954 (90% efficiency)
Tries: 5
Line breaks: 4
Offloads: 4
Tackle breaks: 43
