MATTY JOHNS: The Newcastle Knights were on our knees. Our very existence was in jeopardy. Inside the club’s incredible turnaround ahead of the NRL Grand Final

Matthew Johns has revealed Newcastle’s existence was once in serious jeopardy, making the Knights’ charge into their first Grand Final in 25 years even sweeter for the city that refused to give up on them.

As Newcastle prepare to face the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium on Sunday, the club’s 1997 premiership hero told the Daily Mail the celebrations carry the weight of years of financial turmoil, an ownership era that left the club on its knees and dismal results on the field.

‘We’ve had failed ownerships, multiple wooden spoons, disappointments,’ Johns said.

‘There was one point where the club was in serious jeopardy of its existence. Things were so bad.

‘But they just keep turning up. You give just a glimpse of hope to those fans and they will turn up in their droves.’

Sunday’s showdown is Newcastle’s first men’s Grand Final since their 2001 premiership, with Justin Holbrook’s team chasing the club’s third title after last weekend’s remarkable 22-14 preliminary final win over Penrith. 

For Johns, the excitement has become so overwhelming that even sleep is proving difficult.

‘When you get to a certain age, you think this sort of passion bleeds out of you a little bit,’ he said.

‘But just the way they played on Sunday, I feel like I’m wired. I reckon I’ve had probably five hours’ sleep over the last few nights.

‘It takes you back. It’s just the excitement.’

The Knights’ journey back to rugby league’s biggest stage has included a financial crisis that required the NRL to take control after mining magnate Nathan Tinkler’s ownership unravelled.

Members overwhelmingly approved Tinkler’s takeover in March 2011. 

His arrival ushered in an ambitious era, with Wayne Bennett taking charge for the 2012 season and Newcastle reaching a preliminary final in 2013.

But the promise of a wealthy benefactor bankrolling Newcastle’s future gave way to uncertainty when, on May 16 2014, the NRL confirmed the club had failed to pay the salaries of at least 20 players and staff.

The NRL demanded immediate action and pledged to protect those affected, and Tinkler relinquished control later that month. 

At the time, he maintained that he had invested more than $20million of his own money and disputed reports that the club owed $20million, saying its debts were substantially below the $10.5million held in a bank account. 

The NRL formally announced its takeover on June 14, 2014, with the Knights Members Club retaining a 20 per cent stake in the new entity.

Proceeds from the bank guarantee were allocated to outstanding employee and supplier obligations, as well as $5.1million in start-up funding for the new club. 

Newcastle eventually passed into Wests Group ownership in November 2017 but, on the field, supporters had endured three consecutive wooden spoons from 2015 to 2017, including a 2016 season that produced just one victory. 

Through it all, Johns said, the connection between the club and its people survived.

‘It is the bond between the team and the community,’ he said.

‘Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, first and foremost, love rugby league. Their team of choice is, of course, Newcastle. They love the club. They love the players.’

An example of that devotion was a match against South Sydney early in Johns’ Newcastle career during which the conditions were so miserable that he remembered a winger going to hospital with hypothermia.

Still, he said, 14,000 supporters turned up, including elderly women who regularly knitted socks and cardigans for the players’ children. 

‘I said to one of them, “What are you doing here?”‘ Johns said.

‘She said, “Matt, I woke up this morning and saw how bad the weather was. Just the thought of you blokes running onto the field with no one there broke my heart, so I had to go”. That link is just really special.’

Johns said he believes Holbrook’s understanding of that relationship has been central to Newcastle’s revival.

‘You don’t need to be a Novocastrian, but what’s critically important is you must understand the city and its culture,’ he said.

‘The moment he went in there, he reconnected the team with the community.

‘He took the players down the coal mines and said, “Boys, these are the people you’re playing for. Haven’t you got a charmed existence compared to what these blokes do every day?”

‘Those things have been really important factors in getting this side back to where we wanted them to be.’

Captain Kalyn Ponga has also earned an emphatic endorsement from Johns, who revealed he and brother Andrew worked with Ponga’s father Andre to bring him to Newcastle.

‘There were times I carried some guilt because the side was really struggling. He wasn’t getting a lot of support,’ he said.

‘But he’s had opportunities to leave. He’s had very good offers elsewhere and he’s always stayed. 

‘His thing was, “I came to Newcastle to win a competition. That’s what we’re going to do”.’

Johns believes Ponga’s greatest achievement this season has been lifting the players around him.

‘It’s his greatest season simply because he’s made everyone around him better,’ he said.

‘He’s the best player in rugby league at the moment. He’s number one. If you’ve got the best player in the world and he’s at the top of his game, you can beat anyone.’

Newcastle have already delivered two of the game’s most memorable premiership wins.

In 1997, Matthew and Andrew Johns helped the Knights beat Manly 22-16 in the ARL grand final, with Darren Albert scoring the famous last-minute winner from Andrew’s pass.

Four years later, Andrew captained Newcastle to a 30-24 victory over Parramatta, winning the Clive Churchill Medal after the Knights stormed to a 24-0 halftime lead.

But Johns has a warning for anyone who believes simply reaching Sunday’s decider means the current team’s job is finished.

He remembers supporters telling the 1997 players they had already made Newcastle proud, regardless of the result.

Then, as the team prepared to leave for Sydney, a workman approached their bus carrying a sign.

‘It said, “One more round. Fight one more round”,’ Johns recalled.

‘That really solidified it. It focused us. We were like, “The job’s not done. We’re going to win this game”. I reckon without that bloke and that sign, I just wonder whether we win.’

For a club that has spent years trying to recapture those scenes, his message to the current Knights is simple.

‘If you want a long-lasting legacy, you’ve got to win it,’ he said.