Kurt Mann will notch a major milestone in the opening round of the nib Newcastle Knights 2022 season.
After nine seasons in first-grade, the man from Winton, Queensland will bring up 150 games in the NRL against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday.
Dubbed 'Mr Fix-It' for his utility value, Mann has enjoyed previous spells with the Melbourne Storm and St. George Illawarra Dragons.
Mann was previously recruited by the Knights as a teenager to play in the National Youth Competition, and returned to the Club in 2019 playing 61 games in the red and blue.
Here is a look back at Kurt Mann's road to 150 NRL games.
2014
- Mann made his debut for the Melbourne Storm in Round 9 against the Manly Sea Eagles.
- Playing at centre, Kurt couldn't have wrote the script any better for his debut game scoring the game-winning try in the dying stages to earn the Storm a 22-19 victory.
- Mann played another seven games for the Storm in 2014, scoring six tries.
- Reaping the rewards for a stunning debut season, Mann was named Melbourne's Rookie of the Year.
- Melbourne finished the year in sixth spot and were knocked out of the competition in the first week of the finals.
2015
- Kurt enjoyed regular first-grade football in 2015 playing a big role in Melbourne's season.
- Mann played 20 games for the Storm with the side finishing fourth on the ladder.
- Playing most of the year in the centres, Mann scored four tries, provided three try-assists and averaged just over 90 running metres per game.
- He made his first finals appearance in the Storm's Qualifying Final win over the Sydney Roosters, in which he scored a try.
- Mann was one game away from a Grand Final, however the Storm were defeated by eventual premiers, the North Queensland Cowboys, in the Preliminary Final.
- Mann signed a two-year deal with the St. George Illawarra Dragons starting in 2016.
2016
- Mann made his first appearance for the Red V against former club, the Storm, in Round 1 of 2016.
- The utility played 13 games for the Dragons in 2016 and finished the season as the side's leading try-scorer with 10.
- Highlighting his versatility, Mann played 11 games on the wing.
- The Dragons finished the year in 11th position.
2017
- In his second season with St. George Illawarra, Mann played 21 games.
- He scored another seven tries, while playing in four different positions throughout the year.
- Mann also totalled a career-high 19 offloads for a single season.
- The Dragons just missed out on a finals place finishing in ninth.
2018
- The man from Winton only missed the one game in 2018 featuring in 26 matches for the Dragons.
- Mann featured in 16 wins as the Red V completed the regular season in seventh place.
- He scored another three tries while largely playing a utility role off the bench.
- Mann was left heartbroken, with the Dragons defeated by the Rabbitohs in a thrilling Semi-Final.
- After three seasons with the Dragons, Mann would make his way to the Hunter signing a three-year deal with the Knights.
2019
- Mann made his Club debut in the opening round of 2019, coming off the bench in a memorable 14-8 win over the Cronulla Sharks.
- He scored his first try for the Knights in a Round 10 win over his former outfit, the Dragons.
- The utility played 19 games and made his 100th NRL appearance in the Knights Round 16 loss to the Warriors.
- Mann contributed five try-assists and ran for just over 1,000 metres over the course of the year.
- The Knights just missed out on the finals, finishing the year in 11th spot.
2020
- Mann had a stellar year in 2020, playing a massive role in the Knights making their way back to the finals.
- Mann played 20 games and scored six tries, provided eight try-assists and ran for just over 1,800 metres with the ball.
- The utility found a home at five-eight forming a key combination with Mitchell Pearce.
- After finishing in seventh, the playoffs awaited with Kurt playing his first finals game with the Knights in the side's Elimination Final loss to South Sydney.
- The utility also finished second on the Danny Buderus Medal count, pipped only by Kalyn Ponga for the top gong.
2021
- Kurt played another significant role in the Knights run to back-to-back finals appearances.
- Mann featured in almost every game, playing in 22 out of the 25 games in 2021 scoring three tries.
- Mann was rewarded with a call-up to the Queensland camp for Game III of the State of Origin series and was selected as 18th man.
- Mann also achieved a career-first, having notched over 2000 running metres during the season at an average of 98 metres per game.
- Kurt was rewarded with a contract extension tying him to the Knights until the end of the 2023 season.
2022
- The utility will run out in the No.13 jumper against the Sydney Roosters in Round 1 of the 2022 season.
