Knights' stellar form continued into 1976 before he suffered a broken collarbone early in the match against in Round 14, which ruled him out for the next seven matches. Despite this, Knights still managed to come second in the 1976 Brownlow Medal count, polling an astonishing 45 votes to finish three votes behind Essendon's Graham Moss. He shrugged off that disappointment to be one of Hawthorn's best players in the 1976 VFL Grand Final triumph, later joining some of his teammates at Peter Crimmins' bedside.