Newcastle's NRLW captain Millie Boyle repeated Matthew Johns' famous post-grand final comment of 1997 when she described her side's premiership triumph as "better than LEGO" in front of a hall of supporters on Sunday night.
The Knights, NRLW premiers after collecting the wooden-spoon last season, were greeted to a rousing reception at Wests City - one of the licensed venues of owners Wests Group - upon return from Accor Stadium where they defeated Parramatta 32-12 earlier that evening.
Players and officials returned to the Newcastle West venue shortly before 11pm complete with a police escort - all the way from the Wallsend M1 interchange - and captain Boyle burst off the team bus into the arms of partner and incoming Knights NRL player Adam Elliott.
More than 100 fans were gathered outside the club's entrance and they erupted into a loud "New-cas-tle" chant as the players began to descend the steps of the Murrays Coaches bus.
Newcastle coach Ronald Griffiths stepped off grasping the NRLW trophy to send the success-starved crowd of Knights fans into raptures.
The players slowly bounced their way into the club's upstairs entertainment venue, NEX, where they found even more fans and family members who applauded as they ran on stage.
It was Boyle who would be interviewed first and the skipper didn't disappoint her new legion of supporters.
"I love Newcastle!" she yelled as her first words.
She would soon be asked how good it felt to be NRLW premiers.
"... better than LEGO," Boyle put it, in a nod to the past.
As most of the side were interviewed one by one, it would be homegrown products Caitlan Johnston and injured co-captain Hannah Southwell who arguably drew the loudest roars.
Southwell's younger sister, Jesse - the Knights' teenage halfback who has added a premiership ring to the Commonwealth Games gold medal she won playing rugby sevens only a few months ago - was ultimately brought to the front of the stage and while she initially hesitated in her comments, she screamed to the crowd: "I f---ing love Newcastle!".
Knights coach Ronald Griffiths, humbly distanced to the side of the stage, was called up and said his side's victory was for all the club's fans.
"Every day, all we wanted to do was make our community and club proud," Griffiths told the Newcastle Herald afterwards.
"We don't lose sight of that.
"It wasn't lost on them today - the importance of what we did."
Griffiths, who grew up in Woodberry, said for him the night evoked memories of Newcastle's 1997 and 2001 men's premierships.
"We create new memories today, and they'll never leave us," he said.
"We're in this together.
"Men and women, and as a club and community, they should be able to hang their hat on it.
"As a whole, our female team is on the precipice of something special and I have no doubt our men can certainly do that as well."
Knights back-rower Romy Teitzel, the side's captain last season, was humbled by the support back at Wests.
"We came off the bus and we didn't expect hundreds of people to be waiting for us," she said.
"That's just amazing.
"We expect that stuff for the boys' team but to be there for the women's team, I think it shows what it holds for the future and how much it means to Newcastle."
Hannah Southwell, one of the club's most high-profile signings who has been forced to watch from the sidelines since suffering a season-ending knee injury in round one, said it was "tough" but "unreal" to see the side claim victory.
"I knew they could get the job done today," she said.
A talented multi-sport athlete as a junior who claimed a premiership with the Roosters last season, Southwell could not compare the scenes and feeling at the Sunday night reception.
"I have never, ever, ever had this before," she said.
"I've been a part of one other premiership before and experienced other wins, but I've never experienced anything like this.
"For the club to put this on, and to see so many fans come here and support the girls, is unreal."
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