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Have Newcastle finally shattered their city's curse?

There's something special happening on the field and in the stands in Newcastle. (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
Roar Pro
28th February, 2018
19

The words ‘miracle season’ come up a fair bit when talk turns to the resurgent Newcastle Jets’ current A-League campaign. But I’m not sure I believe in miracles, not when it comes to sport, anyway.

You work hard, you win games; you win games, you win championships. Seems like a simple equation to me. Perhaps not.

Poor Newcastle have had the Billy Penn curse for the past few seasons.

Billy Penn’s statue stood tall atop Philadelphia City Hall, but in 1987 the Liberty skyscraper was built higher than Penn’s statue. It was deemed that because of this, all of the major sporting teams in Philly were cursed.

The city didn’t win a major championship in any sport until the 2008 World Series, when the Philadelphia Phillies took the title. This was, however, only after a second statue of Penn was affixed to the tallest building in the city. Still, the curse was broken (Philly seem to doing okay now in the championship department, also taking the recent Super Bowl title).

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The Knights and the Jets have not made a final series in years, but have added several wooden spoons to their trophy cabinets. But this season, the city is abuzz.

The Knights have played two pre-season trials with their new recruits – including Mitchell Pearce and Kayln Ponga – and while they beat the Melbourne Storm, they were given a reality check by a strong Parramatta outfit.

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Even so, the Knights should do well, and the Hunter faithful – while forever sticking by their team – expect big things. My prediction is they will make the finals, in the bottom half of the eight.

As for the Jets, they are running second on the A-League ladder, with last weekend’s win over the Brisbane Roar securing them a definite finals spot.

While the city is ecstatic, coach Ernie Merrick is not – simply stating that the job is not yet done.

Merrick is a great coach – calm, cool and collected, which has brought out the best in his players. Even those who have been with the Jets for a while seem to have found their groove under Merrick, particularly Jason Hoffman and Ben Kantarovski.

Their big test will come this weekend, when they host league leaders Sydney FC. While Newcastle won’t catch Graham Arnold’s powerhouse team for the minor premiers plate, this weekend’s game is going to be a cracker.

While Newcastle will forever cheer their teams, the cheer this year is a little bit louder, a little bit more exciting, and the anticipation of finals for both codes has the city donning the red and blue once again.

For now at least, the curse may just be broken.

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