Michael Ennis draws on childhood memories of Newcastle’s 1997 grand final for inspiration

MICHAEL Ennis drew on childhood memories for his pre-game speech to the Sharks before their grand final triumph.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — OCTOBER 02: Michael Ennis of the Sharks celebrates winning the 2016 NRL Grand Final match between the Cronulla Sharks and the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

STANDING on the side of the road as the Newcastle team bus drove past on track for Sydney, a young Michael Ennis was in his element.

Surrounded by what seemed like the entire Hunter community, Ennis farewelled the Knights ahead of their first grand final against archrivals Manly.

The year, of course, was 1997 as the Novocastrians surged to their maiden title on the back of a Darren Albert try on the buzzer.

The unwavering support of the Newcastle people, both before and after the game, left a significant impact on Ennis, who began his NRL career with the Knights in 2003.

So much so, he used the emotional scenes from Knights’ fans in ‘97 as the basis of his introductory speech to the Cronulla players when he joined the club in 2015.

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PARTY: Sharks fans take to the streets

Ennis wanted the Sharks to witness fans lining the streets of the Shire in support as they boarded the team bus on grand final day.

On Sunday, the retiring hooker’s vision for Cronulla became reality.

“The Sharks fans lined the streets and it reminded me so much of Newcastle in 1997,” Ennis said.

“It was amazing.

“I remember going to Newcastle as a kid and seeing houses painted, flags in windows and listening to blokes like Paul Harragon talk about driving out to the freeway with all the horns beeping.

The Knights received a huge welcome when they returned after their first title in 1997.

“I wanted Cronulla to experience that as well and we did.

“I was sitting up the front of the team bus on Sunday with Luke Lewis and we looked at each other and said, ‘how good is this’.

“This premiership is for the thousands of families that made signs and walked out of the front of their house when the team bus was coming up the street.

“I’ll never forget it.”

After Sunday’s grand final victory over Melbourne, Cronulla players credited Ennis’ inspirational speech on Newcastle’s 1997 win for driving them to break the Sharks’ 50-year title hoodoo.