To be a professional footballer, it takes determination, hard work, and most importantly, being seen.
However, for Ash Gordon, that last part wasn’t necessarily the case.
The flying outside back seemed lost to the game after he left Penrith following the 1993 season, it what was a difficult year for himself and the club as a whole.
“We had a good side on paper but just didn’t gel,” Gordon told the Our Town Our Team Podcast.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW!
IF YOU'RE READING ON THE APP AND WANT TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST - CLICK HERE!
“With the injuries, particularly to our best player in Greg Alexander, we didn’t reach our potential.
“I ended up getting engaged that year, and Phil Gould and I agreed to a release.”
"I rang the Knights up myself and asked for another crack."
At the time, Gordon had fallen mostly out of love with the game and looked set to focus on his fledging career as a schoolteacher.
His move back up the M1 saw him continue his career in the local rugby league competition.
“I had a year off NRL and played with Wests Newcastle,” he said.
“It was a fun year, back to what I liked with a lot of enjoyment, I scored a lot of tries and we should’ve won the comp, we were that dominant, but it just didn’t happen.
“I got back to enjoying myself, it was a good brand of footy.”
His time spent at the Rosellas revived his love for the game, however with a year out of the top-flight, his options were limited.
Determined to revive his career, Gordon took matters into his own hands.
“That (his time at Wests) gave me the love for the game and enjoyment again, so I rang the Knights up myself and asked for another crack,” Gordon said.
“I don’t know if they came and saw a few games or not, but they agreed to give me another opportunity.”
Gordon re-joined the Knights in 1995, playing 15 games and scoring five tries.
The Knights were clearly a better side with him in it, with the Club winning 11 of the matches he played at a win percentage of 73% before retiring at seasons end.
For Gordon, the move was never about the dollar value, but more about proving himself as a player.
“I was home, so it was never about the money,” he said.
“It was about proving myself, and I saw the growth of the team in regard to its attack.
“With Andrew and Matty Johns calling the shots, it was always going to be an enjoyable year with an attacking style.”
