Newcastle Knights coach Allan McMahon's 1987 vision lives on in 2026 squad

The blueprint of a Newcastle Knight was inked in black and white before anyone wore the red and blue.

Newcastle's inaugural coach Allan McMahon spelled out his vision in a 1987 newspaper column, ahead of the club's 1988 debut.

"Our guidelines for recruiting players are that the major part of their football be in front of them," McMahon decreed.

"[Players] will have an in-built desire to win as well as strength, tackling ability, and speed.

"There's a fantastic nursery for rugby league around Newcastle and that will be looked after.

McMahon, who died in 2003, will undoubtedly be looking down on the 2026 Knights with a special brand of pride only Novocastrians know.

And if any player embodies every ounce of his dream-Knight, it's Phoenix Crossland.

"It's hard to put into words what this club means to me and the whole team," Crossland said.

The 26-year-old half-turned-hooker was sourced from the Erina Eagles, at the border of Newcastle's nursery, crafted through the club's pathways, and unleashed into top-flight footy in 2019.

"We can do something special here; we just need to focus," he said.

"I've always been inspired and motivated to play for this club and to do my best for them and the fans."

Crossland said "Justo" (coach Justin Holbrook) gave him a simple to-do list at the start of the season.

"[He said] all you need to do, and make sure you're the best in the comp at it, is tackling, defending and turning up for your team."

Club identity

The motivation Crossland feels going into this weekend's preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers is a club-wide sentiment.

"There's a belief that whatever's thrown our way, we can overcome it," the Knights' director of football Chris James said.

"I reckon you can sense that, for these players, no opposition scares them, no situation in a game scares them.

"After winning in New Zealand, that very quickly turned to, 'Right, let's go after winning the comp.'"

James, a former NRL referee, joined Newcastle from the Roosters at the start of last season.

"A lot of the reasons that Allan McMahon put in that article is why I came here," he said.

He added one question has been asked by the coaching staff, and it's driving the players' hunger for success: "What is your 'why?'"

"If you can make that greater than an individual 'why', by representing this town and the region that's supported us for so long and playing in a style that would make them proud, then you've got something special."

Young and hungry

Half of Newcastle's extended 22-player squad named earlier this week wasn't born by the 2001 grand final, when the underdog Knights upset the Eels to snatch a second premiership.

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One of them is Fletcher Sharpe, the Cessnock boy who can play halfback, five-eighth, wing and centre.

He'd probably have a crack in the front row if things got desperate.

"We've enjoyed putting a bit of pressure on ourselves this year to go out there and represent the town and the community, and make them a part of the team," he said.

In the context of this weekend, it's eerie to look back and see what Allan McMahon wrote about Penrith in his column.

He referenced a young Mark Geyer as an inspiration for what a Knight should and could be, a local junior moulded into a die-for-his-jersey Panther.

"That's the sort of thing we will be encouraging, the youth of Newcastle and young players from surrounding areas," he wrote.

Crossland is that. Sharpe is that. Maitland's Cody Hopwood, Lachlan Crouch and Tom Cant all fit that bill too.

And for the formidable Penrith, it is embodied in Nathan Cleary, Brian To'o, Lindsay Smith, Mitch Kenny, Moses Leota and several more.

The challenge

McMahon didn't mince his words in 87. He knew it was going to be a tough slog to build the Knights.

When Holbrook arrived at the end of the 2025 season, he didn't mince his words either.

He said he'd focus on connecting with the region's pathway clubs urgently, and connecting the players to the Hunter's real roots.

"It's a hard-working area, and you want to see that in your rugby league team," he said at his first press conference.

He took his squad underground into one of the Hunters' many coal mines during the pre-season, pulling them further than down-to-earth.

He wanted to show them what scores of their fans do day-to-day, and show them how lucky they were to play footy for a living.

The top comment on the club's social media post of the visit, from Daniel Connors, summed it up.

"This is great, a lot of them needed a dose of reality, most of them seemed to be taking their positions for granted last year."

Even if the finals-versed Panthers do spell the end for the Knights' 2026 campaign, it's inarguable that Newcastle is the rugby league fairytale of the year.

Twelve months ago, the men in red and blue were the laughing stock of the NRL, ridiculed, mocked and pitied for what they did and didn't do.

Now, the players are warranted in asking a very satisfying question to the scores of naysayers.

Who's laughing now?