NRL Finals 2021: Newcastle Knights fans gear up to cheer on their side against Parramatta Eels

The Knights take on Parramatta in a qualifying final the Sydney club rightly secured to host at their Bankwest Stadium home.

But with the NRL having been played in Queensland since July due to the coronavirus, the two clubs who are usually only separated by about 150 kilometres will clash at least 1200km from their main supporter bases.

Hunter-based Knights fans won't be able to watch from the stands at Browne Park in Rockhampton, but they are gearing up to cheer on their team from afar - hopeful this year's "up and down" season continues beyond Sunday.

"We're planning on watching it together on Zoom, which will be an interesting, very 2021-way of watching the footy," said Newcastle East's Rachael Barratt, who plans to tune in - virtually - alongside family in Sydney.

Ms Barratt, 30, grew up in a household where her older brother supported Parramatta, her younger brother Newcastle and her dad St George Illawarra.

"It's a bit of a divided family," she said. "I grew up in The Hills area, where Parramatta is the local team. So this is a rivalry match for me."

READ MORE

Ms Barratt's love for the Knights began with adoring Andrew Johns as a child, and grew so strong it recently led to her moving to Newcastle.

"I'm Sydney born and bred but have been a Knights fan from a young age, pretty much due to Andrew Johns," she said. "I was about 10 years old when I started following them. I just loved watching him play and then grew to love the team. Coming up from Sydney to watch the games I got to know Newcastle as a town pretty well too, so I always wanted to live up here at some point."

After moving to Newcastle in January, Ms Barratt "made the most of being 10 minutes from the stadium" and went to "pretty much all the games" before the competition was shifted north.

"Having that taken away was pretty shattering. And to make matters worse, getting the hope of Origin ... to have that so close to happening here and then taken away, that was tough," she said.

Woodberry's Timothy Harweed, 27, found the decision to shift the NRL competition disappointing but he thinks it benefited the Knights, who won five of the eight regular seasons games they played after the move.

Mr Harweed, who has supported the club "ever since I can remember, said it had been an "up and down" season for Knights fans.

"It's been very frustrating but it's good to see now we've got our full-strength side on the field that we're stringing wins together," he said.

"It's been a bit up and down, but ever since Jake Clifford came in we've been a lot more consistent."

Equally, Ms Barratt said the inconsistency had been frustrating but "it's worth it when you get those wins".

"It's been a bit of a typical Knights season to be honest. Very up and down like it has been the last few years," she said. "Obviously the first half of the season they had a lot of injuries, but I think they've turned it around in the last part of the season, we've had some players come back. I'm hoping they can build on that momentum into the finals."

The two passionate Knights fans were both tipping the Red and Blue to come away victorious on Sunday, finding confidence in the fact the side's key players are all on deck.

Mr Harweed said the Knights had a "whole different team" compared to the side that was beaten by Parramatta 40-4 in June.

"I think they can win," he said. "We've got a lot of players back; we've got Mitchell Pearce, Kalyn Ponga."

Ms Barratt added "both teams have a similar story in terms of up and down form".

"The Eels started really well and then their form went down toward the end of the season," she said.

"On paper, both have really strong players in those key positions. So I think it really comes down to who shows up on the day and has that desire and hunger to win.

"I feel like it is going to be quite one-sided but it could go either way, I'm just hoping it's the Knights."

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: