There was a time when the beer was colder, the tackles were harder and Sundays belonged to the game.

Not the NRL, not Fox Sports — the NSWRL Winfield Cup and Newcastle Rugby League.

Raw, ancestral, packed hillside tribalism. And if you were there, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

With minimal footy being played of late and a performance from the Knights we would rather forget, let’s look back at 20 things that still resonate today in the minds of the league-adoring public of Newcastle.

1. THE CINNAMON AND EMERALD GREEN NEWCASTLE REP JERSEY

Whether it be Amco Cup, Country Championships or the Herald Challenge Cup, it was the defining jersey in your collection. The plastic sponsor logo — Caltex, MMI, it didn’t matter. Unless you were from Newcastle, it was considered the ugliest jersey alive. But, it was Newcastle. And, it was worn with pride.

2. THE ISC, AKA MARATHON STADIUM

Bares almost no resemblance to the concrete monolith that sits there today, but back then, a game day on the Gonninan, Sharp or Scoreboard Hill to watch the Knights take on a Sydney heavyweight with four times the budget was a rite of passage for any Novocastrian. Tony Briscoe crackling over the terrible PA system, Simply the Best blasting in the Sunday afternoon winter sun, and your picnic blanket on the hill far outshone the product we see today. Standing to watch Ash “The Flash” Gordon score his second try, or the brutal destruction dished out by The Chief, Sarge, Butts and MG — that was rugby league heaven.

3. THE WHITE-TIPPED “STEEDEN INTERNATIONAL”

The most coveted item of any schoolboy. The NSWRL official match ball — the smell of rich leather, the texture as it aged, the way it seemed to gain five kilograms in the wet, and the intricate stitching held together with white laces. Watching it spin end over end into touch off a Ben Elias grubber was mesmerising. It went into the school bag before any textbook and somehow found its way into bed at night. While I admired the first white synthetic version for its grip and durability, the leather Steeden represented a time when the game was pure — and players had real jobs.

4. FOOTY CARDS

Twenty cents a packet and it came with the best chewing gum you could buy — rock hard, powdery, and it left every card with that unforgettable smell. Wayne Pearce, Terry Lamb, Brad Clyde, even Johnny Schuster. Deals were done on the school bus to complete your set and track down rare cards like Canterbury winger Henry Raymond. There were always rumours of some kid whose parents bought the whole box off the counter — meaning he had the set twice over. For a 10-year-old, that was like owning two sports cars.

5. ALL THREE GRADES

Whether it was at the ISC or the original Cessnock Sportsground, spectators were treated to three full games of rugby league. In the Sydney comp, it was Presidents Cup — the under-21 rising stars — followed by Reserve Grade, stacked with triple-figure first graders and even former internationals, and then the main event: the stars of the Winfield Cup. Such was the buzz, people lined up an hour before gates opened just to secure a good spot for when players like King Wally came to town. It meant the Knights’ lower graders ran out in front of a 10,000-strong crowd — which definitely helped sway a few penalty counts.

6. RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK

The Bible — even for a Catholic schoolboy. All the Sydney comp info up front, with the Newcastle section tucked in the back: player movements, game reports and rivalries, a crossword, and of course The Mole — whose gossip sparked debates from schoolyards to building sites. Each week brought a tough decision: which side of the double-sided poster made the wall? The North Sydney team shot or Balmain fullback Gary Jack mid-stride? Blu Tack made the call.

7. SATURDAY MORNING RADIO

2HD was where it was at. The great NBN sports anchor Mike Rabbitt would cover everything Newcastle Knights and you’d probably get David Waite on to fill us with hope. After 9am came “The man that ate Maitland” — Gary Harley — interviewing Tony Price from Wests or Craig Higgins from Waratah, breaking down all the local action. It set the tone for the weekend — junior league in the morning, then off to St John Oval for an afternoon of local footy. Still a boggy swamp. Some things never change.

8. SATURDAY ABC RUGBY LEAGUE

Live Winfield Cup action — 3pm kick-off. Warren Bolland alongside Arthur Beetson and Johnny Peard, with the occasional appearance from female pioneer Debbie Spillane. You might get Canterbury Bankstown v Manly Warringah at Belmore, or Western Suburbs v Illawarra at the old Wollongong Showground. Low budget, three-camera set-up, no ads, no breaks — just pure, uninterrupted footy. Absolute gold.

9. BLACK AND WHITE CARDBOARD CORNER POSTS

Iconic. Let’s be honest — how many did you try to steal at full-time?

10. SELECTORS, TIMEKEEPERS, STATISTICIANS

Every Newcastle club had about 15 blazer-clad old blokes in the first-grade team photo, all looking like dignitaries just off the plane from the ’86 Kangaroo tour. Where are they now? What happened to them? There were more volunteers in that one photo than most clubs have in total today.

11. ACOUSTICS

Black leather Asics Tiger boots with long screw-in aluminium studs echoing down the caged tunnel at the old Maitland Sportsground — name a better sound. I’ll wait.

12. SAND

As a former ballboy, getting the sand-to-water ratio just right was an art form. You’d take the little white bucket out to the goal kicker and hand it to him, along with some confidence-boosting message like you were Warren Ryan — even though you were 11. I still marvel at blokes like Neil Baker, who could slot a leather Steeden from 40 metres out off a heap of sand, while most of today’s players struggle with a synthetic footy and a tee as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

13. THE RANDOM RADIO GUY

Whether it was at the ISC or Cahill Oval, there was always some old fossil with a battery-powered radio tuned into Hollywood and Zorba. He’d yell out Sydney match scores to anyone within earshot, triggering a chorus of oohs and ahhs as fans digested the news. If there was an incident or injury report, he somehow had the scoop on that, too. Ah, the days before smartphones.

14. WHEN THE TEAM BELONGED TO THE COMMUNITY

Knights fans felt like they had ownership of the team. Maybe you worked with Gary Wurth at the State Bank, got shown a property by Marc Glanville, or were served at Mr Sports Maitland by the Johns boys. They shopped where you shopped. They didn’t have Instagram accounts and carried themselves like everyday locals — because they were. And, they understood what it meant to wear the jumper. They represented the fitters at BHP, the boys underground up the valley, and the concreters laying a driveway in Edgeworth. When the Knights won on a Sunday, productivity lifted across the city on Monday.

15. SOFTENING UP

Cessnock v Kurri. Lakes v Wests. The first scrum would pack down — and then all hell would break loose. It’d go for what felt like five minutes before the two touch judges and the ref stepped in to conduct a full investigation. A penalty would follow — maybe even a sin bin — and that would be the end of it. From then on, every carry had feeling. The crowd turned tribal. The result was live or die. How good was it?

16. CLIFF PARKER ON THE HORSE

Not some bloke with a friendly smile in a foam suit — this was a man in armour, riding a white horse with a lance in hand, charging onto Marathon Stadium like he was heading into battle solo. His presentation was spectacular, his skills in the saddle sublime, and despite the theatre of it all, the horse was tame — patted by a thousand kids every second weekend in winter. Can’t split him and the great Laurie Nicholls for best sideline icon. Why don’t the Knights do it now? Probably some politically correct OH&S reason. But, it’d be a better addition than some of the very ordinary match day “entertainment” we get now.

17. TINA TURNER

When John Quayle and Ken Arthurson pitched the idea of using an African-American grandmother to promote rugby league in Australia, I reckon the suits at Phillip Street thought they had delayed concussion. But, it turned into a masterstroke — and became the envy of the AFL. Tina made rugby league feel bigger than sport. She brought families to games, made it accessible beyond the diehards, and gave the ladies something to love, too.

18. THE UNIFORMS

Long-striped socks pulled to the knees and taped with electrical tape. Shorts that got shorter and tighter every year. Oversized jerseys with heavy vinyl sponsor logos and badge patches the size of a bread-and-butter plate. Simple designs. No away kits. No alternate strips. Just tough, no-nonsense gear. Lower grades wore numbers from 14 up to 45. And seeing the great Slammin’ Sam Stewart run on in the twilight of his career wearing number 47 — to a standing ovation from the hill — was something else.

19. WARATAH MAYFIELD AND NORTH NEWCASTLE

The Cheetahs and the Bluebags — two of the great traditional clubs of Newcastle Rugby League, now just memories in the premier competition. The Bluebags were shipped off to Anna Bay in 1988 to become North Nelson Bay, following poor on-field results and the industrial squeeze of being boxed in by Souths, Wests and Waratah. They held the record for most premierships across all grades and have made a recent resurgence in the NHRL, with the likes of Matt Woolaston helping drive the revival. The maroon and gold of the Waratah Cheetahs — reigning NHRL A Grade premiers — are rebuilding their junior base and now field three women’s teams, after dropping out of the top tier post-2000 due to player numbers and financial strain. A return to the big stage isn’t off the table. With a younger generation now leading the way — proud Waratah men like Jackson Myers and Tim Christie — the passion’s there. If the money can follow, they may yet model themselves off what the Northern Hawks have achieved.

20. NEWRL MATCH DAY PROGRAMS

You’d buy one for a dollar at the gate or find it waiting on your seat in the dressing room. First thing you’d do was scan the team lists — who’s in, who’s out, and who’s out of favour. Then you’d check the Konami Player of the Year leaderboard and spot familiar names like Storrie, Skovgard or Dagwell. Then came the club reports — and the contrast in styles was classic. The Wests one read like it was written by a stiff club secretary, musing over the Hunter Coast Homes Player of the Match. Down at Lakes, there was barely a mention of sponsors — the article was renamed The Squirrel Report, which told scandalous tales of post-game debauchery and always ended with a quiz. Like this gem: “Which Lakes lower grader stole a set of goalpost pads and is now using them as a lounge at home? If they are returned this week, no more questions will be asked”.

Which one did I leave out?

Find me at the game — in the commentary box or at the canteen — and let’s talk footy like it was 1992.

For more sports stories:

• Goannas flex their muscle to tame Tigers in NEWRL
• Vice-captain Ryan Scott among Jets’ high-profile departures
• Scorpions quickly earning ‘giant-killer’ tag in NEWRL

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