Newcastle Knights’ fairytale victory one for the ages

September 28, 2026 — 6:19pm

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The weekend just passed was perhaps one of the most dramatic in Australian sporting history – proof indeed that football is life.

On Saturday, in the AFL grand final, the Brisbane Lions kicked four goals in the dying minutes to run over the Fremantle Dockers. On Sunday, the Wallabies, four men down by the end of the match, unexpectedly scored a spanking 42-38 Test match win in Perth over the incumbent back-to-back world champion Springboks. But before then, also on Sunday, the Newcastle Knights achieved unexpected glory with that most Australian of triumphs: victory of the underdog.

It’s a role Newcastle has been rehearsing much of its life.

Convicts, coal........

© The Sydney Morning Herald