Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The Newcastle business community is also embracing the “our town, our team” ethos. Eat Your Water, an independent surf brand on Darby Street at Cooks Hill, has repainted its shopfront red and blue.
Customers are also offered a 25 per cent discount, a nod to the 25 years since the team’s last premiership victory. The paint hadn’t even dried and already the store’s Instagram page had an additional 150,000 views.
“The customers love it,” said store owner Liam Scanlan.
“One of the comments I saw was, ‘It’s good to see a business put their money where their mouth is and not just have an AI slop or a fake storefront.’”
It’s 26 degrees and sunny in Newcastle right now but that hasn’t deterred 12,000 fans from turning up on a workday to watch the Knights open training session at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The stadium will be open on Sunday as a live site with free entry for fans, but they’ll be asked to book tickets from tomorrow because of the expected demand.
From our man on the ground: Adrian Proszenko has it on solid authority from Newcastle sources that the speculation promising young hooker Diesel Hagan is in line for grand final debut is off the mark.
Regular bench dummy-half Harrison Graham will come into the starting line-up for the suspended Phoenix Crossland. But Hagan (no relation to 2021 premiership-winning coach Michael) has been named in the reserves, prompting suggestions he could play his first game in Sunday’s decider.
He’s yet to play any NRL at all, so it would be one hell of a gamble, and it won’t be happening according to our man.
McDonald Jones Stadium will be opening as a fan site for the grand final. It will be free to enter but Knights supporters need to register for tickets.
Free tickets can be booked on the Ticketmaster website from 10am on Thursday – and are expected to GO FAST.
Gates on the day open at 3.30pm – fans will also be able to watch the women’s grand final from inside the stadium.
The Knights may be a “Newcastle” side but anyone from the Hunter will tell you they belong to the region.
While McDonald Jones Stadium in Broadmeadow will be the main focal point on Sunday, there are other sites also popping up.
Maitland is opening its sportsground to fans with a 10-metre screen going up there (gates open at 3.30pm).
Brisbane Broncos fullback Tamika Upton has already won the Dally M medal twice, and when voting was hidden after four rounds, she was in front again.
- Tamika Upton (Broncos) 12 points
- Sheridan Gallagher (Raiders) 11 points
- Tarryn Aiken (Roosters) 11 points
- Jesse Southwell (Broncos) 10 points
- Teagan Levi (Titans) 9 points
- Andie Robinson (Bulldogs) 8 points
- Jaime Chapman (Titans) 8 points
- Zahara Temara (Raiders) 8 points
After 12 rounds of footy, this is what the Dally M leaderboard looked like:
- Nathan Cleary (Panthers) 38 points
- Jackson Ford (Warriors) 35 points
- Dylan Edwards (Panthers) 32 points
- Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys) 29 points
- James Tedesco (Roosters) 27 points
- Braydon Trindall (Sharks) 23 points
- Haumole Olakau’atu (Sea Eagles) 22 points
- Adam Doueihi (Tigers) 20 points
- Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs) 20 points
- Kalyn Ponga (Knights) 19 points
They have literally painted the town red (and blue).
For proof, look no further than James street in New Lambton. Here, Teigan and Sam Jobbins, with a bit of help from their mate Aiden Kelaher, have Knight-washed their kingdom. After painting their fences for the semi-finals series a few years ago, they went the extra step this week and decked out the house in team colours.
“We’ve always wanted to do this,” Teigan said as passing cars toot their horns in approval.
As he applies the finishing brushstrokes to his masterpiece, Sam reveals he has taken all of next week off work, in anticipation of a week-long celebration.
“Mad Monday will be just the start!” Teigan says.
For all those out there wondering what the Dally M awards are, they are the NRL and NRLW end of year awards.
The ‘big one’ is the Dally M medal, which is awarded to the best men’s and women’s player of the year as voted by a judging panel throughout the regular season.
Voting is made public until round 12 for the men and round four for the women before it goes ‘behind closed doors’, making the awards that little bit more exciting.
We’ve had some close counts in recent years – Jahrome Hughes beat James Tedesco by one point in 2024, before ‘Teddy’ won his second medal in 2025, having previously won in 2019 when the Roosters last won the premiership.
The night also has other awards such as team of the year, coach of the year and try of the year.
We will be bringing you coverage of the awards red carpet tonight from 5pm, before the ceremony gets under way at 6.30pm. The medal winners are usually announced at about 9.30pm.
Good morning rugby league fans.
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and Newcastle fans in their thousands are descending on McDonald Jones Stadium this morning for the Knights’ open training session.
It’s a big day for the Newcastle players because you’d assume many of them will be in attendance tonight for the 2026 Dally M awards, including captain Kalyn Ponga who was in the top 10 when voting went behind closed doors.
We’ll be bringing you more Dally M news this morning (including what the NRL plan to do if Nathan Cleary’s wins from his hospital bed) along with all the colour and chaos of the Newcastle fan day.
