It's been a sad week for Knights fans and for Newcastle.
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Leigh Maughan, the Knights' "founding father", passed away on Wednesday night.
As Newcastle Herald reporter Max McKinney wrote this week, Maughan was instrumental in the establishment of a club that brings so much joy to so many in our region, a club that inspires, entertains, and is fiercely loved by Novocastrians.
McKinney wrote of Maughan: from the mid-1970s when he first spurred the idea of a Newcastle side, through to when the city was granted a team and beyond, no one championed the cause more.
In 1988, at the end of the last game of Newcastle's inaugural season, Maughan turned to fellow club founder Michael Hill and said: "We have lit a fire here, which will never go out."
The game has gone a long way since - quite literally, with the first matches of the season played in Nevada this weekend.
The Newcastle Herald team sends its condolences to Maughan's loved ones, friends and the Newcastle Knights family.
Newcastle would not be the same without the Knights, and the club would certainly not have been the same - or likely even have existed - without Maughan.
While Maughan's own fire has now dimmed, the spark he lit in our city has not. His contribution to Newcastle will never be forgotten. Maughan's legacy will live on every time we don the red and blue and, full of passion, hope and optimisim, scream New-Cas-Tle!
Lisa Allan