With NRLW success and a resurgent men’s team a different picture of success is being painted in a region that has undergone much change
“Everyone has some nervous anticipation, but also a lot of excitement,” says Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes. “That’s because … ‘could it possible?’”
But the support for the club has never wavered. It is during the difficult times when the city’s true nature emerges, according to lifelong Knights fan and venue manager of McDonald Jones Stadium, Dean Mantle. “The club has had some up and down years,” he says. “But ultimately the support has stayed really consistent, the fans are incredibly rusted on, and they’re really supportive.”
Rugby league and the happiness of Novocastrians are closely intertwined. The club won its first NRL premiership in 1997, months after BHP closed its local steelmaking plant, providing a bright spot in a challenging period. From behind the wheel of his Uber, 58-year-old Brad Newman – a retired tradie – jokes he doesn’t often agree with the Lord Mayor. But in this case, he supports the city’s transformation. “We’ve still got a bit of shining to do, a bit of polishing”. Pointing to the cranes in the sky erecting several new residential towers, he says: “Throw that population into the city, it just makes the city more viable and it’ll become better and better, year after year.
The premiership was an extraordinary turnaround that reignited the fire of ambition at the club. Knights NRLW coach Ronald Griffiths says the resources and experience around his part-time team pale into comparison next to the fully professional NRL side. But he believes there’s no doubt the men have taken a cue from their NRLW colleagues.
In 2022, only the Wests Tigers won fewer NRL matches than the Knights. That makes the club’s turnaround, and in particular Sunday’s elimination final against the Raiders, highly improbable. But the way the Knights have done it is barely conceivable. Languishing low on the ladder in mid-season, Newcastle have steadily built a run of victories that now stretches to nine matches.For Mantle, overseeing operations at the stadium, he can put his finger on exactly when the side’s fortunes turned.
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