Knights keep 'digging the well' in 2023 after fairytale chapter

Rugby league may be more than 100 years old but NRLW is a relatively new concept, even more so from Newcastle's perspective, and in 2023 the club enters uncharted territory as defending premiers.

This afternoon signals the start of a new chapter for the Knights following a last-to-first fairytale in 2022, but beyond this particular campaign, Gardner feels like the current crop of women's players are continuing to create a legacy for the game in the Hunter.

"What you're doing is digging the well," Gardner said during this week's official NRLW season launch at McDonald Jones Stadium.

"Digging a well for every young woman who aspires to have a career as a professional athlete and that's really important.

"Just as Danny Buderus, Andrew Johns, Matty Johns and 'Chief' [Paul Harragon] have dug the well for [men's] players here today, like the Jayden Braileys of the world.

"What this young team of women are doing is digging that well for others to aspire to, setting traditions and setting excellence."

Knights coach Ron Griffiths often refers to honouring the club's history, showcasing "grit and determination" and ultimately "leaving performances out there that will inspire our community".

Sunday, October 2, 2022, certainly fits that bill.

Newcastle's maiden NRLW title, a memorable 32-12 victory over Parramatta at Sydney's Olympic Stadium, sparking celebrations across the Hunter Valley.

It was also delivered with a few familiar trademarks from the men's breakthrough crown in 1997 - props holding aloft the trophy (Mille Boyle, Paul Harragon), local siblings together in the same squad (Jesse and Hannah Southwell, Andrew and Matthew Johns) and a Queensland fullback best on ground, following almost identical paths to the tryline 25 years apart (Tamika Upton, Robbie O'Davis).

The NRLW silverware takes pride of place in the front office at Knights headquarters.

Any extra attention this glory brings, however, has been quickly dismissed by Griffiths as Newcastle look to attack from the outset this season.

"We're actually hunting everyone else. I think that's the important thing, we set out from the start, if people are going to hunt us we'll hunt them back. The players have worked extremely hard to be able to achieve that," the homegrown mentor said.

Griffiths has also challenged his squad to raise the bar even higher if they want to consider claiming back-to-back premierships.

"Particularly the players that have come back, one thing they understood from day one was that we set a great standard last year, but if we live that same standard that's probably not going to work," Griffiths said.

"We need to be better than what we were and we've certainly gone about doing that in our ethic towards training."

The NRLW competition keeps evolving and Griffiths says the extended regular season, almost double last year and triple the original three games in 2018, and increase to 10 franchises were key considerations in assembling 28 players.

"When we sat down to actually recruit some players and bring them to the club, one thing we spoke about [recruitment team, director of football] was 21 through to 28, including our development players, we believe they have to be ready to play NRLW," Griffiths said.

"It's a longer season, a longer pre-season, changes to the concussion rule - we believe everyone will have to play at some point in time.

"So when we selected the squad and recruited players, that's what we worked on, all 28 players playing at some stage throughout the year."

Knights quartet Sheridan Gallagher, Abigail Roache, Laishon Albert-Jones and Viena Tinao are poised to begin their NRLW journey against the Dragons at McDonald Jones Stadium today while 10 players return having tasted success nine months ago.

But regardless of what unfolds for the Knights in 2023, Newcastle are still "digging the well".

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