Fan Bailey Goodacre was among the first to arrive at the Del Hotel and Pub on Darby Street in Newcastle, where doors opened at 10am. He and his mates were inside with beers, ready to watch the Knights take on their opponents at Accor Stadium in Sydney, 156 kilometres away.
"We'll steady ourselves and have some food and drinks," Goodacre said. "Eventually, we'll have more people come. It's going to be unreal. I can't wait. We defended the table, and now we're going to defend the kingdom."
The festive mood was tempered by a tragedy the day before, when a car crashed into a crowd of supporters in Newcastle, hospitalising several people including children. A five-year-old girl who underwent emergency surgery overnight is now in critical but stable condition.
"We feel really bad for what has happened. It is sad," Goodacre said, adding that he believed the town, already bonded by the team's success, had become even closer after the incident.