Joey gives Knights' three-peat bid the Immortal seal of approval

Almost three decades after Andrew Johns helped deliver Newcastle an historic premiership at the Sydney Football Stadium, the rugby league Immortal is backing the Knights’ NRLW stars to stand tall on that same turf and march into a third straight decider.

And after they get the job done against the Roosters on Sunday, Johns says Ben Jeffries’ side can go on to complete a premiership three-peat to go with the titles they won in 2022 and 2023.

“The Knights girls are back-to-back premiers and I reckon 100 per cent they can get the three-peat,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports.

“The Roosters are high-flying but we have already beaten them this year and the Knights know how to win big games.

“We need lots of fans getting down the M1 to support them, just like they did back in the day.

“I remember watching 100 Sid Fogg’s buses come down the freeway to watch the Knights play [in the grand finals].”

One man who’ll be happy to be taking his players down to Sydney on a bus rather than catching a plane for the third week in a row is Jeffries, who praised his team for overcoming some ‘horrid’ travel arrangements last week.

Since losing to the Broncos in Round 7, the Knights came up with wins on the Gold Coast in Round 8 and in Townsville in Round 9, with the trek to North Queensland proving particularly challenging.

“From when we left here after captain’s run it was 14 hours to get to Townsville and then we had to play in 30-degree heat against the Cowboys,” Jeffries said.

“Credit to the staff, especially our team manager Kellie Wagner who got some things organised, and to the girls who responded to the adversity to turn that performance on.

“This week we’ll keep them relaxed as much as possible, you want don’t play the game before you get there.

“Hopefully it won’t take too long to get to Sydney and the M1 is clear.”

The Knights’ greatest ever player, Johns delivered premierships to the Hunter in 1997 and 2001, a feat equalled by NRLW stars Jesse Southwell, Tamika Upton, Shanice Parker, Caitlan Johnston, Olivia Higgins, Tayla Predebon, Yasmin Clydsdale and Kayla Romaniuk in 2022-23.

As they head into a showdown with 2021 champions the Roosters on Sunday, ‘Joey’ is adamant gun No.1 Upton and playmaker Southwell can lead the team to victory and then repeat the dose in the decider at Accor Stadium to wrap up a three-peat.