Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When my plane touched down in Canberra last night there was fabulous news awaiting me. In a nail-biting game, my beloved Newcastle Knights had beaten the Canberra Raiders in the first home final game in almost 20 years. The sold-out game saw 29,548 people packing the Newcastle stadium. I can only imagine the levels of celebration that would have taken place last night. It added to an already thrilling weekend for the Knights, with the women's team defeating the Roosters at home on Saturday, bringing them to the top of the ladder. The women take on Wests Tigers on Thursday night before heading into the finals next week, and the men take on New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.

I've been an avid Knights fan since their inception in 1988. I fondly remember our premiership wins in 1997 and 2001, and the five final matches hosted between 1998 and 2006. But Novocastrians are not fickle fans. We have been there through the dark times as well, when those wins were few and far between, which makes these finals series all the more delicious. I am beyond excited by the prospect of both our mighty Knights teams, the men and the women, being on the paddock for these finals. I say: go, Knights! You do us proud.