From Wooden Spooners to Grand Finalists: Have Newcastle Ended Penrith’s Reign?

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Twelve months ago, the Newcastle Knights were sitting at the bottom of the NRL.

On Sunday night, they did something that would have seemed almost impossible then — they knocked out the most dominant team of the modern era to reach their first grand final in 25 years and did so with 12 men.

Newcastle defeated Penrith 22-14 at Accor Stadium in one of the most extraordinary preliminary finals in recent memory, overcoming a series of moments that appeared destined to derail their season. Instead, they produced the defining victory of the club's recent history.

The Knights entered 2026 having finished with the wooden spoon in 2025. Under new coach Justin Holbrook, however, the club underwent an extraordinary transformation.

NRL.com noted earlier this season that Newcastle's rise was already historically significant: they became the second-biggest year-on-year improvement from wooden spooners in the NRL era, behind only Canterbury's rise from last in 2008 to second in 2009. But nobody could have predicted this.

Penrith led 14-6 at half-time.

Nathan Cleary had been brought off the bench after recovering from a foot injury, and the Panthers appeared to have survived the Knights' early challenge.

Then, in the 35th minute, everything changed. Cleary suffered a catastrophic ankle injury in a tackle from Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland. Crossland was sent off, leaving Newcastle with 12 players for the remaining 44 minutes.

Cleary suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle, while Newcastle suddenly had to find a way to survive against a Penrith side with a numerical advantage.

For most teams, that would have been the moment the game was effectively over. For these Knights, it was almost the beginning.

The Panthers had the possession, the territory and the extra man. They couldn't score again. Instead, Newcastle responded scoring three second-half tries.

Dominic Young's try early in the second half brought the Knights back within four points. Then Sandon Smith produced one of the defining performances of his young career.

With Newcastle trailing 14-10, Smith took a quick tap from halfway and caught Penrith completely unprepared, racing through to score.

With the Panthers desperately searching for an equaliser late in the game, Smith intercepted a pass and ran 80 metres to seal the Knights' 22-14 victory.

He finished with 178 run metres and 256 kick metres, while his two tries provided the moments that ultimately sent Newcastle into the grand final.

But the numbers don't fully explain what Newcastle accomplished. They spent almost an entire half with one fewer player and did not concede a single point after Crossland's dismissal.

For the Panthers, this was about more than simply losing a preliminary final. Penrith had built one of the greatest periods of sustained dominance Australian rugby league has ever seen.

They had reached seven consecutive preliminary finals and won five of their previous six preliminary finals since 2020.

They have spent years setting the standard for the rest of the competition. But Sunday exposed how narrow the margins have become.

Cleary's injury was devastating, but Penrith's problems weren't limited to losing their superstar halfback.

Blaize Talagi suffered an Achilles injury, Dylan Edwards hurt his PCL and Isaah Yeo was playing through a torn pectoral muscle.

Yet even accounting for those setbacks, the Panthers couldn't find a way through Newcastle's defence after half-time. The Panthers' dynasty isn't necessarily finished.

But this was another preliminary-final exit, and this time it came against a team representing almost everything that Penrith once represented themselves: youth, belief, cohesion and a refusal to accept that the established order is permanent.

The most remarkable part of the Knights' story is that this isn't simply a team that improved. They went from the bottom of the competition to the grand final in a single season.

Only one team in the NRL era had previously gone from wooden spooners to a grand final the following year which was the Sydney Roosters in 2010. Newcastle have now joined that incredibly small group.

They haven't done it by simply sneaking into the finals and getting hot at the right time.

They've now beaten South Sydney, the Warriors in Auckland and Penrith in consecutive finals weeks.

The Warriors victory was already enough to send Newcastle into their first preliminary final since 2013.

Sunday's victory has now taken them somewhere the club hasn't been since Andrew Johns led them to the 2001 grand final.

Perhaps the most fitting player to be standing there at the end was Dane Gagai. Gagai first joined Newcastle in 2012 as a 21-year-old and was part of the side that reached the preliminary final in 2013.

He left for South Sydney, returned to Newcastle and is now preparing to leave again, joining Brisbane next season. But before he goes, he has one final opportunity to deliver the Knights their third premiership.

For a club that has endured five wooden spoons and years of disappointment, simply reaching the grand final is an enormous achievement. For Gagai, Ponga and the rest of this group, however, there is now a much bigger opportunity.

Penrith aren't suddenly irrelevant. They still have an elite squad, an outstanding system and the kind of organisational culture that allowed them to dominate the NRL for years.

But Sunday night demonstrated something important. The gap between Penrith and the rest of the competition is no longer what it once was.

Standing on the other side of that gap is Newcastle, a team that finished last just 12 months ago, a team that had not reached a grand final since 2001, a team that spent 44 minutes of its biggest game of the year with 12 players, but a team that refused to lose.

Now, the Knights are 80 minutes away from completing the most extraordinary turnaround in the modern NRL era.

Their reward is a grand final against the Sydney Roosters. The Panthers represented the established order. Newcastle may now represent what comes next.