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NICOLE HEGARTY, REPORTER: With scores tied and less than 30 seconds on the clock Andrew Johns darts down the ground, passing the ball to Darren Albert who powers across the line to secure the side's first premiership.
NICOLE HEGARTY: For an industrial city that had just been dealt with the news BHP was closing its steelworks, the win was momentous. NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS PLAYER: We're just as proud of them as they are of us. It's just good for the whole city. ANDREW JOHNS: It's more than just a game in Newcastle, we’ve got such a responsibility.
BILL PEDEN, KNIGHTS VETERAN: I almost get goosebumps about it now thinking how much we were prepared to sacrifice and give for the community because the community had given us so much over the years. NICOLE HEGARTY: But it'd be 25 years in the wilderness for the Knights before their next grand final berth - now just days away.
KALYN PONGA, KNIGHTS CAPTAIN: It makes it all sweeter you know to go through those tough times, all the adversities, challenges, injuries, bad years. NICOLE HEGARTY: Those 'tough times' included the club passing in and out of private hands and a conga line of coaches - not to mention four wooden spoons in the past decade including last year. BILL PEDEN: It's very hard to have success when you have instability.
You need to have a stable club to be successful. BILL PEDEN: To be wooden spooners last year and, and now on the cusp of, of a fairytale premiership, it's, um, yeah, it's, uh, it does make me a little bit emotional and it's, it's something that, that this club I'm really proud of and to see these boys do that, it's, uh, it would be wonderful.
NICOLE HEGARTY: The club veteran says there's more than a few similarities between those premiership winning years and now. BILL PEDEN: Back in '97, we had the BHP shutting and people were losing their jobs. And, and on the weekend, at least they had a successful footy side to give them some sort of positivity and something to, to look forward to.
And here we go now, 25 years later people are struggling with housing, rents going through the roof, interest rates going up. People are doing it tough, but all of a sudden, the football team's starting to get a little bit of positivity. NICOLE HEGARTY: Like Bill Peden and the Johns brothers before him talent from the broader Hunter Valley region again fills out the side.
MATT JACKSON, EAST MAITLAND GRIFFINS: We're lucky enough to have Tom Cant and Lachlan Crouch go through the junior system here and they made their way into first grade side and play in the grand final this weekend. NICOLE HEGARTY: Matt Jackson has been a coach at the East Maitland Griffins for 10 years and says the players are an important presence. MATT JACKSON: Tom in particular has a fair bit to do with the club.
Last year he helped orchestrate with the, with our presentation day, presenting awards and giving a talk at the presentation. NICOLE HEGARTY: Newcastle has spent the past quarter of a century investing millions in its pathway programs in the Hunter and this year is proof it's paid off. What do you think about playing for the team that two of the players in the Knight’s side used to play for?
REYNE MILLS, EAST MAITLAND GRIFFINS: Like, you may be able to go to Newcastle one day if you train hard enough and play as a team player. SAM JOBBINS, KNIGHT’S FAN: If we're making the grand final, the house is always going red and blue, so yeah, when Sandon took that intercept on Sunday afternoon, that was definite. We were locked in.
NICOLE HEGARTY: As Grand Final fever builds Newcastle's Jobbins family are doing their part to paint the city red and blue. SAM JOBBINS: We cracked it out Monday afternoon and yeah, had a few mates come around. We pumped the tunes, had the Screaming Jets playing, and, and a bit of Silverchair, and yeah, it didn't take us long at all. SAM JOBBINS: That, I don't know why you're asking me that.
Oh, have faith, have faith. They're gonna do it. In the space of a season the Newcastle Knights have risen from wooden spooners to grand final contenders. The city has turned blue and red ahead of Sunday's match but after 25-years since the last win, will there be a fairytale ending? Nicole Hegarty reports.
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