LAS VEGAS — For the National Rugby League, inviting the Newcastle Knights as one of the four teams playing in the league’s two marquee season openers Saturday at Allegiant Stadium as part of its push to globalize the game is akin to the NFL presenting the Browns, Jets or Raiders to the world on its biggest stage.
As a fan of Australian rugby league, you wouldn’t be out of line if you were experiencing pangs that the Knights don’t belong.
The same way an NFL fan would wonder why the league would roll out perennial losers such as the Browns, Jets or Raiders while trying to show off its game to the world stage.
Make no mistake: The Knights, who play the North Queensland Cowboys in the first of the two NRL openers, beginning at 9:15 p.m. Eastern, have a richer history than the recent struggles would suggest.
They enjoyed glory days as winners when the best player in their history, Andrew Johns, was leading them. But that was from 1993-2007, during which the Knights won their only two premiership titles. Since then, there’s been little glory in which to bask.
Last year was a low point as the club managed just six wins against 18 losses and were tagged with the dubious distinction as the winners of the “Wooden Spoon,’’ which goes to the last-place team in the league.
The Knights’ negative point differential of 300 was 101 more than the next-worst team in the league. They ended the season on a nine-game losing streak, punctuated by a 66-10 loss in their 2025 finale.
In obvious response to that ineptitude, Newcastle completely revamped its team, beginning with hiring a new head coach, Justin Holbrook, who once played for the Knights.
The biggest — and most polarizing — move, though, was the purchase of star Dylan Brown, who was signed to a 10-year, $13 million contract.
Brown, who will play halfback for the Knights, is considered an elite talent because of his explosive ability to run with the ball, his ability to create space and his defensive prowess.
He’s a tough, complete player who the team wants to complement its star, Kalyn Ponga, creating space for him as one of the top playmakers.
With all that money and talent, though, comes immense pressure from the Newcastle faithful. Some see Brown as a savior and others believe the investment in one player was too much.
Interestingly, Johns was quoted earlier this year in Australia stating his case for Newcastle undergoing more of an overhaul, beginning with its junior development, instead of placing Band Aids on the wound.
“I don’t know what the DNA of the Knights is anymore,” Johns said in an interview. “What sort of team are we? What sort of club are we? We have always built from within, looked at our local juniors coming through and put so much work into them. Find our DNA and coach these kids.’’
Andrew’s brother, Matty, also a former player for the Knights and currently one of the lead NRL analysts for Fox Sports, compared the Knights to an NFL team that had success years ago and then became doormats before finding recent prominence.
“We would be the Detroit Lions,’’ he told The Post. “The club should do a lot better with junior talent, but they keep losing them. They go to other clubs. So, we’re fixing that, keeping our best kids.’’
Matty Johns compared the cultural makeup of Newcastle to another NFL city.
“If Newcastle had a twin brother, it’d be the Pittsburgh Steelers,’’ Johns said. “Newcastle is a coal-mining, steel town with really tough people, really earthy, knock-about people.’’
Like Jets fans, who are among the most loyal in the NFL despite the team’s perennial lack of success, Newcastle supporters all the way over from Australia have littered Las Vegas this week, making their presence felt as the loudest group at the Thursday night Fan Fest downtown, where some 16,000 NRL fans packed the streets.
They all will go into Saturday’s opener with a similar hopeful anticipation with the addition of Brown the way Jets fans couldn’t wait to see what their team looked like for Aaron Rodgers’ debut in 2023.
For their sake, hopefully Brown’s debut goes a lot better than Rodgers’ ill-fated night. Hopefully, his Achilles are strong.
