What he can remember clearly about his long lunch with Leigh Maughan and Gerry Edser more than four decades ago at Belmont's Squid's Ink restaurant is the generous portion of food for thought that was dished up, whetting his appetite for more.

The main course of conversation that day in 1978 was a simple question: could Newcastle enter a team in the world's toughest sporting competition, the New South Wales Rugby League premiership? Would it be feasible?

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As the second-largest city in the state, and the seventh most populated region in Australia, Newcastle already fielded sides in the national basketball and soccer leagues, known as the Falcons and KB United Raiders respectively. But it had not been represented in the 13-man code's top flight since 1909, when a pioneering outfit known as the Newcastle "Rebels" disbanded.

After two seasons and 20 games in that inaugural breakaway league, the weekly train trips became problematic and Newcastle's players opted to establish their own domestic competition. The Newcastle Rugby League soon became a thriving hotbed, from which more than 50 Test players would emerge, including future Immortal Clive Churchill.

Players based in Newcastle and the Hunter were regularly chosen to represent NSW and Australia, and at various times the region's representative team proved they were more than a match for any opposition, beating the touring Great Britain Lions in 1954 and 1962. Then in 1964, the city celebrated a famous victory in the State Cup, upsetting South Sydney (29-14), North Sydney (6-0), mighty St George (5-3 in the semi-final) and finally Parramatta 14-7 in the decider. In what was either an embarrassing oversight or disgraceful snub, no trophy was ever presented.

Almost seven decades after Newcastle's original four-team competition kicked off, Maughan, a well-known sports commentator, was concerned that the game in his home town was languishing. In 1976, he wrote in the Newcastle Rugby League's official match program that the district premiership was "not what it was in standard or as a spectacle", and that the fundamental problem was a "lack of so-called personality players that are the drawcards to the spectator".

The solution he proposed was to form a team capable of competing each week on the grandest stage of all.

He did not need to persuade Edser, who was not only his partner in a real estate agency but also a Newcastle Rugby League selector and member of the giant-killing 1964 State Cup team. Maughan and Edser, however, had not anticipated the self-interest of local club officials.

Frustrated, they contacted Hill and invited him to lunch. Somehow he ended up paying the bill, but it was perhaps the best money he ever spent. Having played 14 Sheffield Shield cricket matches for NSW, Hill was something of a sporting celebrity in Newcastle. He was also partners in a thriving law firm, and Maughan and Edser recognised that his legal expertise might be an asset. In addition, Hill was well connected with a number of high-profile rugby league players and executives. Perhaps he could help them open some doors?

Coincidentally, at the time, the NSW Rugby League was considering expanding its boundaries outside the metropolis of Sydney. Newcastle appeared a logical option. Preliminary talks were held with NSWRL general manager Kevin Humphreys, who travelled north one night in 1980 to address the Newcastle Rugby League general committee.

Humphreys, the game's highest office-bearer, was ordered to wait outside and then admonished for not seeking written permission to attend the meeting. Eventually he got to deliver his spiel, but the committee voted 36-0 to reject it, and the NSWRL turned their attention to Canberra and Illawarra, who were both welcomed into the fold in 1982.

There had to be another way to skin this cat.

Maughan and Hill met with multi-millionaire John Singleton, whose personal fortune was keeping Newtown afloat. A plan to form a joint-venture - the Newcastle Jets - playing half the games in Newcastle, and half at Henson Park, was discussed in 1981 and ultimately abandoned. Eventually a more direct strategy was adopted.

"We were very much seen as outsiders, trying to push the Newcastle Rugby League into doing something," Hill recalled. "They were completely anti our campaign. So we decided we had to get onto the Newcastle Rugby League board." Hill and Maughan were successful in running for election. They secured another ally in Waratah-Mayfield president Max Fox, one of Hill's mentors in both cricket and law.

"Who were Leigh Maughan and I?" Hill recalled. "We were nobodies. But they trusted Max." Hill and Maughan kept pushing their agenda. A masterstroke was taking a delegation to meet with Illawarra rugby league administrators, who allayed fears that fielding a team in the Winfield Cup would impact negatively on the local competition.

The tide, finally, was turning. The next challenge for Hill, Maughan and company was to formulate a business plan that would satisfy both the Newcastle Rugby League and the NSWRL. Various corporations were interested in signing up as major sponsors. Building society Newcastle Permanent wanted the team to be known as the "Our Towners". BHP were insisting on the "Miners". Twice, in 1985 and 1986, Newcastle applied for admission to the big show. Both times the bids were rejected.

Eventually Humphreys' successor as general manager, John Quayle, reached the conclusion that expansion was essential in countering the alarming growth of AFL, and in April 1987 he announced the NSWRL would increase from 13 to 16 teams the following season. The newcomers would be Brisbane, Gold Coast ... and Newcastle.

For Novocastrian rugby league fans, there was a communal sense of disbelief as their new entity rolled out a series of announcements.

The club, to be known as the Newcastle Knights, would wear an eye-catching red-and-blue strip with yellow numbering - a vast improvement on the cinnamon and emerald the district's rep teams had worn for several decades.

The new chairman would be Max Fox, with Hill one of seven directors and Maughan employed as marketing and public-relations manager. An operating budget of $700,000 was put in place for season one, to be partially funded by the 750 foundation members who signed up, at $300 a head.

The popular Henny Penny takeaway chicken outlets secured major-sponsorship signage rights for three seasons at a reported $150,000 per annum, as well as a seat on the club's board of directors for their outlay. Plans were unveiled to redevelop the International Sports Centre, which involved securing grants from the NSWRL ($50,000) and the state government ($600,000), as well as a $150,000 low-interest loan.

An archaic oval arena originally built as a possible Commonwealth Games venue, the ISC would be transformed into a rectangular playing surface surrounded by three steep "hill" embankments, facing the Harold Hawkins (western) stand. Local company Daracon provided the land-moving equipment at cheap rates. BHP offered the landfill to create the hills, which was eventually covered by turf laid by volunteer labourers from Newcastle City Council and, in part, by a handful of the club's first intake of players, who had been employed on the ISC ground staff. Subsequent concerns that the fill might be contaminated were, fortunately, allayed.

The finished product was an amphitheatre capable of accommodating more than 30,000 spectators, crammed in like sardines (whatever the weather) and baying for blood, like the ancient Romans at the Colosseum.

So who would coach this fledgling team, which had no leagues club to support it and hence limited spending power? The first target was Canterbury's two-time premiership winner Warren Ryan. Ryan was a Novocastrian, who was schooled at Hamilton Marist Brothers before leaving to make a name for himself in Sydney as a Commonwealth Games shot putter, footballer and, eventually, a coach who revolutionised rugby league.

It was well known he and Bulldogs chief executive Peter Moore were at loggerheads.

Ryan admitted he was interested in a return to his home town, especially as a long-time confidant, Allan Bell, was now living in Newcastle and would be a likely choice as assistant coach. Ryan initially recommended two of his proteges, former Kangaroos Allan McMahon and David Waite, as his lower-grade coaches, but he soon started having second thoughts about his own involvement.

Ryan was apparently concerned about the playing strength he would have at his disposal and the comparative inexperience of Newcastle's administration. "You can smell the chook raffles on him," he reportedly said of one Knights official, before ruling himself out of contention. After missing the 1987 finals by one point, he left Canterbury to take the reins at star-studded Balmain.

Newcastle then advertised the position, and the last two names on the short list were Allan McMahon and Ron Willey, two coaches at opposite ends of the experience spectrum. McMahon was 33 and the highlight of his brief coaching career was steering Canberra to a reserve-grade grand final defeat in 1985. Willey was 58 and was best known for coaching Manly to premierships in 1972 and 1973, before successful stints with Balmain, North Sydney and South Sydney.

The final round of interviews hinged on one question: "You're playing Canterbury. They're at full strength and in great form, and your three best forwards are all out injured. What's your game plan?" Willey apparently laughed and replied: "Go to mass [and pray] on Sunday morning."

McMahon's strategy was to kick deep and early in the tackle count to turn the big Canterbury forwards around, and run from dummy-half to avoid their big-hitting defenders. Don't try to beat them at their own game ... but don't be intimidated.

Thirty years on, Hill recalled with a wry smile: "I walked out of that interview thinking I'd been set up. Allan Bell drew up our list of questions, and I've always wondered if 'Macca' had seen the questions before we asked them. He answered everything perfectly." Even so, the board meeting to appoint him lasted a marathon six hours.

Within days, the former Balmain, Newtown, Canberra, NSW and Kangaroos utility back was announced as Newcastle's inaugural coach. Willey duly signed with Penrith. Bell was to be McMahon's assistant. David Waite, another ex-international, would be Newcastle's reserve-grade coach and development officer, and Robert Finch, a Maitland legend who won two grand finals with St George, would be in charge of the under-21s.

It was May 1987. The Knights had a coaching staff, board of directors, foundation members, major sponsor and a home ground, but they hadn't signed a single player. They had about six months to assemble three teams from scratch. There was no time to waste.

HARD YARDS: THE STORY OF THE NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS