Fri, 11 Sept, 7:50 pm, Final score, Rabbitohs 10, Knights 20
Sat, 12 Sept, 4:05 pm, Final score, Warriors 16, Dolphins 26
16 26 →Sat, 12 Sept, 7:50 pm, Final score, Sharks 26, Cowboys 16
26 16 →Sun, 13 Sept, 4:05 pm, Final score, Panthers 19, Roosters 12
19 12 →Sat, 19 Sept, 7:50 pm, Final score, Roosters 46, Sharks 10
46 10 →Sun, 20 Sept, 4:05 pm, Final score, Warriors 10, Knights 12
10 12 →Fri, 25 Sept, 7:50 pm, Final score, Dolphins 20, Roosters 36
20 36 →Sun, 27 Sept, 4:00 pm, Final score, Panthers 14, Knights 22
14 22 →Sun, 4 Oct, 7:30 pm, Game not started, Roosters versus Knights
- - →
Mark the 35th minute of Sunday's NRL preliminary final as the hinge on which a storied dynasty and a potential premiership destiny swung.
asserted
dynasty → start → which
Penrith and Newcastle had fought a first-half that made both look like worthy foes for the Roosters in next week's grand final.
asserted
both → fight → final
The Knights faithful turned Stadium Australia into a little piece of the Hunter, proving yet again they would follow their team into hell itself if Sid Fogg's would charter a bus there.
Francis Manuleleua's long-range try, the latest scorching adventure of the screaming Knights, gave the beast inside the 55,000-strong crowd a smell of blood and it turned the Panthers into strangers in their own country.
asserted
it → turn → country
The Penrith half of the crowd rose for Blaize Talagi's score off a clever Jack Cogger kick, but never has Nathan Cleary, benched before kick-off, copped such treatment on his home turf as he did before he entered the game in the 20th minute.
asserted
he → rise → minute
Just 10 minutes later came the tackle that ended his season as he suffered an graphic fracture to his ankle, also ending Phoenix Crossland's afternoon after he was sent off, and putting this game on the raggedy edge.
asserted
he → come → edge
In the end, it was the Knights who pushed the Panthers over the side to write their names in history, with a 22-14 win that sends Newcastle to their first grand final in 25 years.
asserted
that → push → years
The two sides provided a fascinating contrast from the start as they left the field following the warm-up.
asserted
they → provide → up
Penrith, the ultimate professionals and avatars of pure ruthlessness, had eyes of steel, a picture of focus.
asserted
Penrith → have → focus
Newcastle, by contrast, waved to friends and family, faces beaming that they were here together on the verge of a dream.
asserted
they → wave → dream
Rage and joy proved to be equally potent fuels, with rare courage on both sides amid the furious desperation you only see when the stakes are highest.
asserted
stakes → prove → desperation
The Knights finished with 12 on the field after Crossland's dismissal but, somehow, rarely looked shorthanded.
asserted
Knights → finish → dismissal
There is a temptation to call that a miracle, but Newcastle didn't need divine intervention to flat-out-play the Panthers in a second half.
asserted
Newcastle → be → half
They bent occasionally but never broke as Penrith fought hard, denied only by a series of last-gasp efforts from the Knights.
asserted
Penrith → bend → Knights
Kalyn Ponga pulled off a tackle on Moses Leota that any footy hit man would have been proud of.
asserted
man → pull → that
Mat Croker dived on loose balls like they were live grenades.
asserted
they → dive → balls
Dane Gagai played like his Newcastle life depended on it, and given he has earned one last day as a Knight, it kind of did.
asserted
it → play → Knight
They were able to take advantage of the Panthers not quite being their razor-sharp selves, as best typified by Smith's first try off a quick tap that caught Penrith on the hop.
asserted
that → take → hop
The Panthers missed Cleary, their edges blunted, but Casey McLean came agonisingly close to scoring.
It is a mark of the steel in the Panthers that they weren't out of it until Sandon Smith's late intercept try, even with injuries mounting.
asserted
injuries → miss → try
Aside from Cleary — already carrying a broken foot into the game — Blaize Talagi did his Achilles, Dylan Edwards hurt his PCL and Isaah Yeo defied belief to play through a torn pec.
asserted
Yeo → carry → pec
They regrouped well in the moments after Cleary's injury, scoring through Lindsay Smith while the game was still in something of a punch-drunk stupor.
But they did not trouble the scorers again as Newcastle ran in three tries in the second half, all of which began from their own side of halfway.
asserted
all → regroup → halfway
That ability to strike fast and from anywhere on the field is the Knights' greatest gift — it has happened too many times to call this a charmed run or a triumph of abstract, random brilliance.
asserted
it → strike → brilliance
It has taken them through a high-octane South Sydney, to the heart of Auckland and back and now, a man down and all, through the greatest dynasty many will ever know.
asserted
many → take → dynasty
That dynasty is not at its end, but preliminary final losses in each of the past two years show how thin the margins have become.
asserted
margins → show → years
Penrith are still one of the heavyweights, but the world is changing and Newcastle, with their speed and hunger and endless belief, are the first of the new powers to rise.
asserted
Newcastle → change → powers
Those Knights will be underdogs again next Sunday against the Roosters, with all their glory and splendour, and they must overcome the weight of history.
asserted
they → overcome → history
Of the 117 premiers in the history of Australian rugby league, 115 have finished in the top four.
asserted
115 → finish → four
For Newcastle to prevail, it is beyond once in a lifetime and closer to once in the lifetime of the sport.
asserted
it → prevail → sport
But after what the Knights have been through and what they have done to get here, the odds seem to matter little.
asserted
odds → do → what
At this point it feels like there is nothing Newcastle cannot do, no challenge they cannot rise to and no foe they could fear.
uncertain
they → feel → point
The Aporia
