Newcastle Knights complete unlikely turnaround with preliminary-final win over Penrith to reach 2026 grand final
The Newcastle Knights beat the Penrith Panthers in the NRL preliminary final on Sunday in Australian rugby league to reach the 2026 grand final, 12 months after claiming their fourth wooden spoon in 11 seasons. The victory capped a season-long revival under new coach Justin Holbrook and followed one of the most dramatic semi-final finishes the game has seen.
Few clubs have endured as long a run of underperformance as Newcastle, a team built around the legacies of Andrew “Joey” Johns and Paul “Chief” Harragon that the article describes as irrelevant for much of the last quarter-century. The Knights had recorded just five winning seasons since 2003, won only one finals game since 2013 and had finished higher than seventh on only one occasion; they were at rock bottom one season ago. Midway through Adam O’Brien’s sixth season the club sacked him; O’Brien had said booing Newcastle fans “don’t know anything about rugby league”, an incident the administration cited as central to their decision to move on. The board appointed Justin Holbrook, the article describes as the harshly treated former Gold Coast Titans mentor who had spent two years as a player at the club, in a bid to restore a local identity and an attacking style.
Newcastle reached the preliminary final depleted: their $13m signing Dylan Brown did not play, starting props Jacob Saifiti and Trey Mooney were absent, and the Knights were carrying Origin forward Dylan Lucas, who had fractured his ankle in round 21. Penrith entered the match seeking a return to the grand final after appearing in a seventh-straight preliminary final and held a 14-6 lead at half-time with a numerical advantage after Phoenix Crossland was sent off in the 35th minute for a hip-drop tackle on Nathan Cleary. Cleary was left with a reported compound fracture as a result of that incident.
The game swung early in the second half. One minute after the break Sandon Smith ran the ball on the last; an inside–outside passing sequence produced a try to Dom Young that put Newcastle in front. Smith’s involvement in that move and subsequent plays was singled out in the source as a defining contribution.
Key defensive and attacking moments followed. Kalyn Ponga produced a tackle preventing Casey McLean from grounding the ball when the match was in the balance, and in the final minute Sandon Smith broke away to score under the posts, a finish the article describes as sealing the Knights’ place in the decider. The source notes Newcastle had not come close to a grand final in 25 years before this run.
The Knights will meet the Sydney Roosters in the grand final; the Roosters are contesting their fourth decider under coach Trent Robinson after a 36-20 preliminary-final win over the Dolphins. The article adds that the spotlight will now fall on Newcastle, citing the emotion shown by their high-profile fans and the likely judiciary appearance of Phoenix Crossland following his sending-off.
Newcastle’s next confirmed fixture is the 2026 NRL grand final against the Sydney Roosters in seven days’ time, with the judiciary process for Phoenix Crossland expected to follow during the lead-up to the decider.