Newcastle has chance to end sport sorrow with wins in NRL and A-League
ONE weekend in Newcastle has the potential to wash away years of sporting sorrow for local fans.
Newcastle Jets
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ONE weekend in Newcastle has the potential to wash away years of sporting sorrow for local fans.
McDonald Jones Stadium hosts back-to-back matches tonight and Saturday and if the Knights and Jets come away victorious, Beaumont St could come to life in ways only seen in championship years of 1997, 2001 and 2008.
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More than 20,000 fans are expected to turn up when the Knights take on South Sydney tonight, which would be three crowds over that figure for their three home games this season — well above their 15,000 average for the past three years.
Saturday’s A-League Grand Final sold out before the public even got a shot at buying tickets.
Venues NSW runs McDonald Jones Stadium and CEO Paul Doorn said this weekend “will be the biggest the Stadium has seen since the development of the Western Grandstand [in 2011].”
Newcastle is abuzz in anticipation of a Jets grand final win, but if both their treasured teams get up, that will go into overdrive.
“If the town was to go the double — Knights into Jets grand final win — the town will be buzzing,” Novocastrian and Knights legend Kurt Gidley said.
“The Jets won 07/08 season, which was a huge moment, it’s probably going to be the biggest moment since that. The whole buzz around Sunday, Monday, Tuesday will be huge.”
Gidley knows how Newcastle responds to sporting success.
He was there when the Knights won their two premierships. He grew up in the town and has witnessed the people ride the wave with their team. They continue to turn up when the team is doing it tough, but they turn to them when times are tough for themselves.
Gidley gets the place.
Which is probably why Jets CEO Lawrie McKinna and coach Ernie Merrick wanted him to address the team before their semi-final last week.
“I just spoke about what it means to be a Novocastrian and whether you’re a Newcastle Knights player or a Jets player, it’s a similar demographic of people and what they expect of anyone who takes the field at McDonald Jones Stadium,” Gidley said.
“Then I touched on the ’97 grand final, the 2001 grand final and the Knights being massive underdogs in both those games.
“There was a fair bit of similarity between the history of the Knights and the Jets and our crowds that turn up for each other’s performances.”
The Jets are marginal favourites against Melbourne Victory on Saturday night and that Newcastle crowd could be what gets them home.
Knights players are noticeably relieved this week to be back at McDonald Jones after having just two games there in the opening eight rounds.
They know how the fans can get them home, especially when the stands are full.
“The ‘Newcastle’ chant is pretty well known throughout league ... When that goes up you really feel it as a player on the field and that they’re behind you, that’s for sure,” Gidley said.
“I heard it through the TV for the Jets last week. I have no doubt it will be screamed from the hills and the stands this weekend.
“I’ve experienced it as a fan, as a young boy to start with, then to play out in front those kind of fans once you become professional, it’s a dream come true.”