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More than 12,000 Novocastrians attended the Knights open training session, as the community prepares for the grand final 25 years after the club last played in a decider.
A Newcastle is partying like it is 1997. More than 12,000 Novocastrians packed into McDonald Jones Stadium on Wednesday to honour their grand-final heroes at an open training session.
Several actual NRL games this year have attracted smaller crowds. Among those in attendance were dozens of mulletted teens paying homage to star playmaker Fletcher Sharpe. Former Knights player Alex McKinnon lent his support. There was also a superfan whose head, clad in a forged knights-of-the-realm-style steel helmet, baked in the midday sun.
Captain Ponga Hails Community Support
Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga met fans at the stadium. This is a community truly embracing its Our town, our team ethos. The Knights coach Justin Holbrook said the community is so good up here and everyone knows how important rugby league is to the Hunter Region. He said the club understands its responsibility and it is great to have a day like today and include the community.
He added that the boys want the fans to be proud of the team that runs out there, and they have done a good job of that this year. He said they have to do it again on Sunday. It has been a quarter of a century since the locals last played in a decider, and after such a long wait, nobody wants to miss out. Across the road, the club merchandise store looks like it has been ransacked.
When we popped in on Tuesday, there were rows of empty racks and coathangers where the team jerseys and other paraphernalia should be. Punters have been lining up outside every morning in pursuit of merchandise, but supply cannot keep up with demand. Grand finals produce unexpected heroes, and we already have one in the form of 88-year-old grandmother Dawn Dunning.
Viral Grandmothers Waving Fans Flags
Dunning convinced her sister Ailsa, 86, and friend June Hill, 88, to farewell Knights fans as they bussed their way to Accor Stadium for last weekend's preliminary final victory against Penrith. Footage of the octogenarians waving their flags quickly went viral, culminating in the trio appearing on the Today Show on Wednesday morning. Dunning quipped that it is very overwhelming and hard to take.
She said they had a great time waving down all the buses, that many cars blew their horns at them and it was just ridiculous. She said they could not get over it and it was the funniest day they have ever had. She added that they watched the Knights bus go first and all of the buses, there must have been 20 of them.
She knew her granddaughter was going on one, so every time a bus would come up to the intersection, she would press the button so the bus would have to stop. Meanwhile, the locals have literally painted the town red and blue. Take, for instance, James St in New Lambton. Here, Teigan and Sam Jobbins, with a bit of help from their mate Aiden Kelaher, have Knight-washed their kingdom.
Residents Paint Hometown Knight Red
After painting their fences for the semi-finals series a few years ago, they went the extra step this week and decked out the house in team colours. Teigan and Sam Jobbins, left, with their daughter Alfie, 7, and son George, 9, are joined by other Newcastle Knights supporters at their New Lambton home. Teigan said they have always wanted to do this as passing cars tooted their horns in approval. Local businesses are following suit.
Eat Your Water, an independent surf brand on Darby Street at Cooks Hill, has repainted its shopfront red and blue. Customers are also offered a 25 per cent discount, a nod to the 25 years since the team's last premiership victory. The paint had not even dried and already the store's Instagram page had an additional 150,000 views. Store owner Liam Scanlan said the customers love it.
One comment he saw was that it is good to see a business put their money where their mouth is and not just have an AI slop or a fake storefront. With Knights merchandise almost impossible to procure, local artist Mitch Revs was inspired to produce a special edition Better than Lego t-shirt. It is a catchphrase that entered the rugby league vernacular courtesy of Matty Johns, the day after Newcastle's 1997 grand final triumph.
Artist Sells Johns Catchphrase Shirts
In a tired and emotional interview with Sunrise reporter Natalie Barr, Johns offered those four words to describe his euphoric state. Now that they are emblazoned on a $50 t-shirt, locals just cannot get enough of them. The idea was to just pump out a couple of hundred shirts, but sales are now in the thousands, even though most of the stock cannot be produced before the decider. Revs said he put it online and his phone exploded.
He said he is not sure if people are aware of Shopify, but when you get a sale it makes a cha-ching sound. It could not even get to the end of the sound, so it was glitching, just going ch-ch-ch-ch. None of this support is lost on the team. While some grand finalists bunker down to concentrate on their preparation, the Knights have enjoyed the warm embrace of the community they represent.
Newcastle forward Pasami Saulo said the town is here through the lows and the highs. He said to be able to repay them this week is such a grateful feeling. He added that they owe it to the fans, who have always got their backs, and this week they are going to have theirs.
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brisbanetimes:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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