Newcastle fans have pleaded with their side to show pride in the Knights jersey on the club’s famous Old Boys day
They’ve stuck with the club through good times and bad, but even Newcastle’s fans are losing faith with where the club is headed. Hear how the Novocastrian fans reacted to the ongoing furore in the Hunter.
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‘Heartbroken’ Newcastle fans have pleaded with their side to show some pride when they run out on Old Boys day against the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The clash against the Titans is the biggest fixture on the calendar for Novocastrians with the club paying tribute to Knights legends and former players.
For longtime fans like Harry Ramage it’s a chance to make up for last weekend’s 46-4 humiliation at the hands of the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium.
“If they can at least look each other in the eye at the end of the game and be able to look guys like Chief [Paul Harragon], Billy Peden and Mark Sargent in eyes … and say ‘I left it all out on the field today’ then that will go someway,” he said.
Club member and passionate supporter Arabella Zucchetto believes the decision to remove Nathan Brown as coach and the fallout has hurt fans and players need to dig deep to repay supporters who have stuck with the club through thick and thin.
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“If they can’t do it for Old Boys day, if they can’t do it for the fans who are heartbroken and outraged this week … they know we are hurting and I know they’re hurting too but we’ll all get through it together,” she said.
Knights member Christopher Owen echoed a similar sentiment. Christopher even said he could live with a loss to the last placed Titans if players showed some fight.
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“Effort is genuinely all we hope for, it’s one of the best things about Knights supporters. I don’t care as much about results … all I want is the team to run out there, rip in and give their best. If they go down fighting I’m happy with that,” he said.
Brown’s sacking, the response from players and CEO Phil Gardner’s management of the drama dominated headlines in the lead up to the loss at Campbelltown. Fans expected the adversity to galvanise the playing group but instead the Knights crumbled along with their finals chances.
“There are no excuses for it as far as I’m concerned. There was a lack of care or effort … you sit there and pine for the team that ran last in 2016 because I don’t think I ever saw them give up in that manner,” Christopher said.
With an entire half left to play and down 30-0 on the scoreboard, Arabella couldn’t bear to watch the remainder of the game.
“I have never left a game before full time, no matter how bad the result and I left at halftime and went to the league’s club next door … I thought I needed to have a drink if I’m going to keep watching this. Physically they were out on the field, mentally they were somewhere else,” she said.
To Harry there was a distinct lack of pride.
“I can understand them giving up on the coach, that’s nothing new in league. I was more disappointed because they still had a semi finals spot on the line. It felt like they gave up on each other and the fans. They stopped playing for the jersey,” he said.
While Arabella is frustrated with another season of falling short of a finals berth, she hasn’t given up hope that what Brown has left behind can be transformed into a winning side and culture.
“If anyone was a fan during the Nathan Tinkler days we know the club has seen far worse times. To Brown’s credit he made some progress and helped our roster to give our team a chance to get results,” she said.
Originally published as Newcastle fans have pleaded with their side to show pride in the Knights jersey on the club’s famous Old Boys day
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