‘When you’ve come to expect wooden spoons, it’s hard to believe this will ever come’
Robert Crosby is a writer, University of Newcastle graduate and a tragic Knights fan.
If you’ve watched a promo for a Newcastle Knights game on TV recently you’ve likely seen my face. You might not know my name, however you may know me as the bearded guy screaming “NEW-CAST-LE” and beating his chest in a crowd of red and blue jerseys.
Viral Knights fan Robert Crosby. Supplied
When I was there to see Newcastle defeat Canberra in the finals three years ago, I didn’t expect that footage to still be getting a run years later. In hindsight, the camera operator zooming in on me and giving a big thumbs up should have been a sign I was the passionate fan he was looking for.
Being a Newcastle fan has been one of the great joys of my life. From the first game I watched growing up in Dubbo as an 11-year-old, seeing the likes of Andrew Johns, Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen pull off a thrilling win over the Sea Eagles, I was elated and immediately sold on the Knights as my team.
A week later I got to experience the first of many – many – heartaches that would come to define my fandom as the Knights lost 50-6.
Following a sports team is an experience that is hard to describe to someone who doesn’t share the same bond. Telling family and friends not to schedule plans when your team is playing is not the most endearing trait, but when the passage of time is measured in seasons instead of years it makes perfect sense.
When it came to deciding on where I would study for university, I won’t say the opportunity to watch the Knights play live every week was the sole reason I settled on Newcastle (although it was certainly a major selling point). Those years living in Newcastle were a far cry from the grand final glories of 1997 and 2001, coinciding with a rather bleak run for the Knights with three wooden spoons in a row, complete with a year which yielded one win and a draw from 24 games.
Lesser fans would have walked away long ago from a team like Newcastle, but when success is so hard to come by you savour every win all the more, daring to dream of what it would be like to win a grand final.
The Knights have been billed as the fairytale story heading into Sunday’s game, going from the wooden spoon last year to reaching their first grand final in 25 years.
Not even the most diehard of supporters could have imagined the season playing out this way, especially with key players Dylan Brown, Jacob Saifiti and Trey Mooney all unavailable, leaving the likes of Cody Hopwood – a 20-year-old who this time last year debuted in a 66-10 loss – to fill the void.
All throughout the finals pundits have raved about the Knights’ underdog spirit and attacking flair with very few prepared to genuinely believe they can win. It will be a similar story on Sunday as the more-fancied Roosters, flush with big names and even bigger backers, take the field chasing their 16th premiership title.
Up to now, I’ve been swept up in the euphoria of seeing my side continue to defy the odds, happy to enjoy the ride with an attitude that playing another week is playing with house money.
But a grand final is different. It’s one thing to be content with just making the finals and going out without firing a shot. Moments like Sunday don’t come around often and even less so for Newcastle.
Kalyn Ponga embraces Phoenix Crossland after the preliminary final. Getty Images
Bertha Russell, Carrie Coon’s character in The Gilded Age, put it best - “I don’t want to come a long way. I want to go all the way”.
I’ve watched hundreds of Newcastle games over the past two decades. I made the mistake of walking out with four minutes to go, trailing by 10 against Melbourne, only to miss out on the most remarkable of comebacks. For my sins, I sat through the entirety of a 62-0 loss in the rain.
Last Sunday, I was there to witness the downfall of Penrith and savour the elation of being grand final bound.
My life as a Newcastle fan has been waiting for this moment. When you’ve come to expect wooden spoons over finals wins it’s hard to believe years like this will ever come.
It’s easy to view what the Knights are on the cusp of achieving as a fairytale. For me, it’s something much closer to the moment that has stuck with me as a Newcastle fan above all others.
In 2015, with their season in tatters and headed for a dispiriting loss to the Roosters at home, Newcastle captain Kurt Gidley chased a kick from halfway to put pressure on the Roosters’ fullback, forcing an error and passing the ball to a teammate in support for a try.
That moment of effort from Gidley didn’t stop the Knights from losing the game or avoiding the wooden spoon. What it did was something more real and romantic that embodies Newcastle as a whole.
It’s about staying in the fight, turning up when it’s hard, because if you put yourself in a position to make something happen often enough, eventually, maybe tomorrow or two decades later, the tide will turn your way.
The Knights have given so much to me as a fan – the feelings, the memories, the richness of being among a crowd of strangers bonded by the love of something bigger than any one of us.
The Knights are going all the way to grand final glory. I’ll be there on Sunday beating my chest, screaming “NEW-CAST-LE” and remembering it forever.
