The main thing we remember about the Knights beating the Eels in the 2001 grand final were the headlines about Parramatta choking.
The Eels were odds-on favourites, but the Knights overcame those odds. Which is a very Novocastrian thing to do.
Sunday's clash with the Eels has caused an outbreak of finals fever to spread across the region even faster than COVID.
It's the first time the two sides have met in the finals since that sweet 2001 victory.
Newcastle Herald sports editor Robert Dillon wrote in his book, Hard Yards: The Story of the Newcastle Knights, that Parramatta had "every reason to be confident" before the 2001 decider.
"They had lost only four games all season, and only one of 22 leading into the grand final. No team in rugby league history had scored more points during the regular season than their tally of 943," Dillon wrote.
"They were such strong favourites that Rugby League Week magazine labelled the Eels 'Unbeatable' in its front-page headline. None of which fazed the Knights one bit."
During that year's finals series, then Eels coach Brian Smith said: "I don't believe in the word choke. Choke is crap".
Then he took a shot at Andrew Johns for throwing a pass that started the "capitulation" of the Knights in the previous year's finals series.
When Johns led his side to victory over the Eels, he described it as the "greatest moment" of his career and claimed the man-of-the-match award.
"This award is for the whole club, not only for myself and the 17 blokes out here tonight, because everybody has worked really hard,'' Johns said at the time.
Dillon wrote that Johns paid tribute to the Novocastrian faithful and "took the opportunity, in front of a 90,414-strong crowd and with millions more watching the telecast, to make a political statement".
"I'd like to thank the people of Newcastle," he declared. "You provide our motivation. Every week you turn up rain, hail or shine. I think you deserve a new stadium."
The 2001 grand final was a different feeling to the first Knights premiership. It was only three weeks after the September 11 attacks. Maybe that played a part.
It felt like the whole Hunter stopped for the 1997 grand final win over Manly.
No doubt, much of the Hunter will stop again on Sunday night to watch the Knights battle the Eels, 20 years after the 2001 victory.
Hunter-based fans, of course, won't be able to attend due to the lockdown.
But we'd much prefer to see finals fever spreading through the region than bloody COVID.
Wooden Spoon
Bulldogs fans Josh and Denam Maddox made the front page of the Maitland Mercury this week, with this picture of the wooden spoon on their front lawn.
The prank by Josh's mates left him "howling in the dog house".
