BY CURTIS WOODWARD

He has become of those Newcastle Knights cult heroes like Billy Peden or Akuila Uate but winger Nathan Ross has admitted to almost walking away from the club before being offered a two-year deal to stay in the Hunter.

Ross is a genuine crowd pleaser but his success didn’t happen overnight and admitted to being overawed by some of the National Rugby League’s biggest names.

“I have to admit that a couple of times I found myself a little star struck” Ross wrote for The Sports Source.

https://twitter.com/rossdog4/status/818747400743333888

Another day on the pre-season training track ✔️ #goKnights pic.twitter.com/OLq0TA9dZx

— Newcastle Knights (@NRLKnights) January 12, 2017

“I remember heading to the try line against the Rabbitohs and Greg Inglis coat hangered me, but the hard work I’d done in the gym mean’t I was able to cop the hit and carry the ball across the line and put the ball down.

“He came back over to see if I was alright and I just wanted to kind of say g’day to the bloke!”

But things could have been much different for the social media fan favourite revealing he almost left the Knights to take up a deal in the English Super League.

“During last season I was actually close to signing with an English team at one point but the contract negotiations fell through.

“I just kept working hard throughout though and my passion, dedication and all the sacrifices were rewarded by being offered a two-year deal with the Knights. It’s given my family security for the next two years and I’m so grateful for the opportunity the club has given me so far.

“Now I’m really looking forward to a big 2017 so I can repay the faith they’ve shown in me.”

Ross is one of only a few players in the Newcastle squad guaranteed a starting position as coach Nathan Brown desperately finds a way to drag his team off the bottom rung of the premiership.

@woodward_curtis