Opinion
Late Sunday night saw rapturous scenes at the building forever known as the Newcastle Workers Club, due to its moniker the day nine people died on its premises in the 1989 earthquake.
Part of the fabric of the town, the building is now officially called Wests City, being owned by the same group that bought the Knights for $1 in 2017.
Make no mistake, it was the right venue for the grand final winning National Rugby League Women’s team to return to, regardless of the fact the people who pay their wages also own the venue.
For this team too have become part of Newcastle’s fabric.
They had already earned their place but assured it with Sunday’s victory, bringing fans a joy we’ve not felt since 2001.
So it was to be expected that our girls would return to a hero’s welcome, Millie Boyle leading the team off the bus and leaping into Adam Elliott’s arms for a victorious kiss before joining in the famous “New-ca-stle” chant, along with her fellow champions.
It stirred the soul.
I was at the venue, albeit at a much earlier hour, as is my wont these days.
I watched the game at the Workers Club, enjoying beverages at members prices, as well as complimentary party food and soft drinks.
You’d say there were a couple of hundred of us in the auditorium made famous for Novocastrians as the long-time home of the World’s Biggest Disco on a Saturday night, but even I’m too young to have gone to that one.
And I was one of the oldies watching the NRLW grand final at the club’s free live site.
Because there were so many kids in attendance. And they loved the game.
But everyone was keen, riding the sloppy yet resilient opening, the enthusiasm as the Knights piled on not so much the points as the tries, the nail-biting six-point gap as the Eels clawed back into it, and finally the joy of the final ten minutes as layer upon layer of icing was applied to the cake.
The Knights have a keen and dedicated supporter base of people with disabilities. You’ll often find yourself sitting alongside these fellow diehards at home games and it was awesome to join in as three fans decked out in red and blue led the “New-ca-stle” chant at critical moments, then again as the clock expired and victory was secured.
Jesse Southwell was the fan favourite for kids and adults alike, she is a superstar in the making. The halfback played a role in most of our tries, scored one herself, defended like a backrower and marshalled her troops like a boss.
Oh and – has this come up before? – she’s 17.
Jesse from Kotara had to have been in the conversation for woman of the match, but you’ll hear no complaints from me that the prestigious Karyn Murphy Medal went to Tamika Upton, who this season has barged her way back into the conversation for being the best player in the world. What a game from the fullback, who finished with a try, two line breaks, 181 run metres and a match-high 81 kick return metres.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Millie Boyle up front was nothing short of inspirational, but typically so, churning through 268 metres which has somehow become the norm from her to the point we don’t mention how insane it is anymore.
A generational talent at the start of their career at halfback. A fullback in their prime winning player of the match honours. A giant of the game in size and standing leading the way as prop and captain.
You wonder where fans in red and blue have heard this story before.
I have to mention Simaima Taufa, who gave the best speech of the whole day.
Just watch what this meant to her, yet how gracious and grateful she is. The auditorium was hushed throughout her delivery, the Eels captain I daresay gaining a number of new fans – both for her warm words and brilliant match.
I watched the men’s game with my cousin and his young boys at their place in town, although I took a detour getting there, because the inaugural West Best Bloc Fest was happening at eight venues across the West End, and my brother had a wristband and was ready to rejoin what sounded like an awesome time from my vantage point of the streets around the city.
Matt Frost’s plus one was a lifesize cardboard standup of Upton, which he was gifted by the club – because, hey, it can’t have cost much and better it ends up in someone’s house, if only for a few days, than just in storage and eventually the bin.
That said, the ‘Other Upton’ was last seen joining the festivities at the Backyard Stage at Jams, which ensured the three-time premiership winner was a chance of crowd-surfing at some point in the evening like a latter-day Andrew Johns, but this time to the thumping tunes of Baam Bam rather than the Screaming Jets.
Of course, by the looks of the crowd at the Workers Club as the women’s team returned, there’s a reasonable chance the real Tamika got to crowd surf too.
It’d be the right venue for it.
The Workers Club was the scene of Matty Johns’ legendary “better than Lego” interview. That photo of Joey on a skateboard with Macca’s in the background happened outside the Workers. It is the ’97 grand final party.
Well, the start of it anyway.
Like their forebears, the girls partied into the night. I’m sure Jesse stayed on the cans of Coke (I reckon they would still be free for her).
But by the time that bus pulled up at the club on King St to an eruption of pride, I was home.
I can’t do that anymore. Not the pride part – I totally got that. The video footage got me all emotional. I may have teared up.
But that might also be because I’m tired. And my feet hurt. And it was really late – like after 10.
And I already celebrated their win. It was with a completely different fan demographic, one that saw Wests give away about as much free soft drink as they sold beers. That was the crowd.
But that was the point. Wests knew it and they nailed the brief.
The club had facepainting, giant connect four and an enormous ‘Guess Who’ game using the men’s team as the characters to choose from.
They refreshed the party pies. They just handed over the cold cans of carbonated corn syrup.
It’s really not that hard to keep people happy with a bit of sugar and grease. The younger punters might be a nightmare later due to the glucose crash, but most parents were happy to treat their little fans to one more glass of post-mix given they were going to remember this special day.
And that’s why the ‘free’ part of the live site was worth whatever it cost. Because these are the days lifetime fans are made. It did of me. I can’t ever not be a Knights fan after what ’97 meant to me. Still means. And I watched that game at home – I can’t even imagine what it would have meant to 12-year-old me to have also got free pies and Fanta on that unforgettable day!
It gives me hope that when my tiny human gets to understand footy – beyond the enjoyment she currently finds in the colour and sound – she’ll have a team to follow that will give her that same joy.
I would have supported the women’s team regardless, but that they came into existence during my daughter’s first year on Planet Earth means this whole thing hits different.
Because there were boys at the Workers Club, for sure, but Alice in Wonderland was painting a lot more girls’ faces. And they turn out in droves at NRLW games.
Young girls love this game. These players are their heroes.
Purely from a business perspective, this has to be a slam dunk – the NRL is tapping into a market they are seriously under-represented in, meaning money spent should simply be considered a wise investment.
But this team also means my daughter can grow up with the same possibility of the Knights as I had.
I knew I wasn’t going to play for Newcastle because I know how unco I am. But it wasn’t impossible. Until very recently it would have been for my daughter.
I don’t care if playing for the Knights isn’t her dream. But I do care that if she wants, it can be her dream. That can’t be quantified on a spreadsheet but the NRL can’t afford to devalue it.
A generation of girls in the Hunter will grow up with aspirations to be like Millie or Tamika or Jesse. It’s already happening.
All of which is to say that taking the girls back to this venue wasn’t some cynical money-making ploy from Wests – I mean, I’m sure they made plenty of money – they had to return to the Workers Club.
It has that status. And they earned that right.
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