The Newcastle City Blues certainly know how to celebrate a milestone.
As the AFL Hunter Central Coast (AFLHCC) club commemorates its 140th anniversary in 2023, the organisation will also target four flags in this weekend’s grand finals at No 1 Sportsground.
Newcastle City is eyeing off titles in the Black Diamond Men’s Cup, Senior Men’s Plate, Shield and Women’s Cup on Saturday 16 September.
On top of that, the Blues walked away with several awards at the AFLHCC presentation, winning the prestigious Club Championship in the process.
Skipper Mitch Crawford collected the Elliot Davey Medal for best and fairest and Men’s Cup Captain of the Year, while Josh Taylor picked up the competition’s Rising Star honours.
Joseph Miller was joint winner of the Ian Grandland Medal in the Senior Men’s Plate, with Cameron Keast named leading goalkicker.
In the Women’s Cup, Caitlin Holcombe took out the Coaches MVP while Brett Godfrey snared Coach of the Year.
Oliver Gilmour was the sharp-shooter in Shield, booting the most majors this season.
“It’s a terrific way to mark our 140th, with four teams contesting their respective deciders,” Newcastle City co-president Courtney Knight said.
“We actually celebrated the event in July with a ball, which gave us the opportunity to engage with a bunch of different stakeholders and past players, coaches, committee members and supporters.
“So, we’re really excited that we’ve been able to convert some of that effort into on-field success and we’re hoping we’ll produce the goods on Saturday.”
Knight admitted it had been a long journey to establish Newcastle City’s impressive credentials… but a united one.
“We’ve been working on a strategy with our current committee for a while,” he said.
“Casey Eacott and myself share the [president’s] role and we have enjoyed some stability on the executive for four or five years now.
“So, we’ve had a really clear vision on uniting the club, particularly pushing our women’s football and binding our five teams together.
“However, it hasn’t been stress-free.
“We’ve had to make some tough decisions, predominantly around coaches and people who don’t quite fit the culture and environment we’re trying to create [here].
“It’s really important to get that spot-on.
“So, it has taken some time to change the Blues’ focus.
“That might have meant some ultra-competitive players needed to realise there’s more to just winning.
“Or those, who were critical of others were required to hang on a minute and realise we’re all trying to do our best at the club.
“But, I think this year, in particular, we have achieved good continuity and everyone’s on board with what we’re trying to achieve.
“Like I said earlier, if we have the right people with the right attitude in the right culture, creating the right environment, the football takes care of itself.
“There’s a pretty good feeling at the moment.
“So, it would be terrific to transfer that into a few cups on Saturday afternoon.”
Newcastle City faces Central Coast powerhouse Terrigal Avoca Panthers in the Men’s Cup and Senior Men’s Plate, The Entrance Bateau Bay in the Shield and the Killarney Vale Bombers in the Women’s Cup deciders.
In the remaining clash, Women’s Plate, the Maitland Saints lock horns with the Cardiff Hawks.
Knight believes all the matches, involving the Blues, could go down to the wire.
“In the four [fixtures] we’re playing in, they’ve been really close competitions,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.
“We’ve had to work very hard to make the grand final… and I don’t think much will change this weekend.
“It’s going to be difficult to win any of the matches, but we’re quietly confident we can win in each of those grades.
“Newcastle City genuinely has a lot of respect for its opponents.
“We think on their day, they can knock us off in all four grades.
“And, on our day, we feel we can lift the cups as well.
“So, we’ve got to be on our game.
“We’re preparing really, really well, we’re focused and we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves.
“However, if we prevail in any grade, it’ll be a great reward.
“While the committee’s had solid plans – over four or five years – for what we do off the field, the players and coaches have been working on this campaign for 10 months.
“So, it’s been a long, long journey and a lot of effort involving many people to get to this point.
“Obviously, the spotlight comes on in the last few days.
“But, for us, we’ve been doing this for 10 months this season.”
One outfit determined to succeed, again, is the Blues’ Women’s Cup line-up.
“We’re the defending premiers in that grade,” Knight said.
“However, it won’t be easy… it’s a grand final rematch.
“Killarney Vale went through the home and away season undefeated, but our girls were able to knock them off in the major semi and progress straight through to the decider.
“The Bombers then enjoyed a really strong win last week, so they’ll have their tails up.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for our girls, but we feel like we haven’t left a stone unturned.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good enough position to give it a good shake.”
Matches kick off from 8.10am.
AFL Hunter Central Coast
Grand final draw (Saturday 16 September)
No 1 Sportsground, Newcastle
- 8.10am: Black Diamond Women’s Plate – Maitland Saints v Cardiff Hawks
- 10.10am: Black Diamond Senior Men’s Plate – Newcastle City Blues v Terrigal Avoca Panthers
- 12.30pm: Black Diamond Women’s Cup – Newcastle City Blues v Killarney Vale Bombers
- 2.50pm: Black Daimond Men’s Cup – Newcastle City Blues v Terrigal Avoca Panthers
- 5.10pm: Black Diamond Shield – Newcastle City Blues v The Entrance Bateau Bay
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- Knights’ NRLW side hoping to create history again: Griffiths
- REAL NRL: Lantry fears for President’s Cup future after Thirroul’s shock forfeit
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