The NRL grand final is a tale of contrasts.
In one corner there is the Sydney Roosters, who openly state they play for premierships, having won four of them since the turn of the century and having appeared in a further four grand finals.
“With this club; they demand success and you've always got to be at the top of your game when you're here,” said back-rower Angus Crichton.
Trent Robinson’s side have only failed to miss the top eight once across his 14-season tenure.
LThe Roosters have maintained a sustained level of success, which has made them an attractive option for the game’s best talent.
With a run of near finals misses, a senior playmaker was top of their off-season shopping list.
Just like they did when they recruited Cooper Cronk from Melbourne to power them towards their 2018 and 2019 premierships, the Roosters prised Daly Cherry-Evans out of Manly.
Cherry-Evans, who has the chance to bookend his NRL career with premierships, is reluctant to buy into that comparison.
“One thing I do know is that Cooper Cronk as a halfback is someone that inspired me throughout my career because of how good he was and how successful he was,” Cherry-Evans said.
“I was inspired by what he did here… Coops has always been in the background throughout my career, whether he knows it or not, inspiring me.”
While success has been a constant for the Roosters, a club rooted in some of Australia’s most-affluent suburbs, Newcastle haven’t played in a grand final in a generation.
Since the last of their two premierships in 2001, the club, which leans heavily into its working class identity, has won five wooden spoons and finished stone-cold last in 2025.
Half of the current Knights squad weren’t even born the last time Newcastle won a premiership.
But over the last month in which they have won more finals games than they did across the previous decade, the Knights have toppled South Sydney, the Warriors and Penrith en route to Sunday’s grand final at Accor Stadium.
Under the guidance of former Robinson protege Justin Holbrook, the Knights’ rapid rise from last to a decider in 12 months has engrossed a community that has responded to the effort and heroism displayed on the field.
“We’ve shown that we will do anything for the team and defend with the brother next to us,” said forward Francis Manuleleua, who has been one of the finds of the year.
With blue and red snags selling out in record time, tattoo parlours all booked up and houses painted in Knights colours, Newcastle has been gripped by the enormity of the occasion.
Tickets for this weekend’s decider have been hard to come by and the Knights sold out a live site watch-a-long at McDonald Jones Stadium within minutes.
Unlike the Roosters, the Knights haven’t had the luxury of building a roster over time.
When the club outlaid a $13m 10-year deal for Parramatta’s Dylan Brown last year, most people thought they were mad in making a rushed decision.
But Brown’s capture proved to be a masterstroke, allowing fullback Kalyn Ponga to play without burden at a level that is arguably better than his Dally M season of 2023.
Brown’s absence - he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament tear in round 21 - would be enough to derail most club’s seasons.
But the Knights have soldiered on without him, while their first-choice front row pairing of Trey Mooney and Jacob Saifiti - along with suspended hooker Phoenix Crossland - won’t play on Sunday.
With Ponga, five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe and Brown’s replacement at halfback Sandon Smith, the Knights have proven they can inflict pain from anywhere on the field.
No team has won the premiership from outside the top four in the NRL era, but with a city and an incredible finals run behind them, who would be brave enough to doubt the Knights?
“The belief that we've had in this squad and the town backing us, I can't put into words what it's been like this year,” Smith said. “It's such a special time and we've got one more to go.”
