Josh King may have only been a one-year-old when the Newcastle Knights played in the historic 1997 Grand Final, but there’s no doubt he has seen the game replayed many times since.
“I think every Novocastrian has seen the '97 Grand Final and you get goosebumps watching it, it’s a great memory,” King smiled.
Young players including the 21-year-old are well aware of the rich history of the Club and the Old Boys who were Newcastle legends in their day.
“Growing up, people like the Chief (Paul Harragon), Steve Simpson are what the Club was built on,” commented King.
“The tough guys are what you try and model your game on, so I’ve always looked up to them and tried to model myself on them.”
This Sunday for Old Boys Day, the Knights will celebrate the players of the 1997 Grand Final at McDonald Jones Stadium.
“It's everyone’s dream to play in an NRL Old Boy Day,” he said.
“All the greats will be there to watch the game, so it will be a good challenge for us to go out there and do them proud.
“The biggest motivator is that they’re all going to be coming out and watching and you don’t want to let them down because they’re what started the Club.
“The '97 Grand Final was such a big thing for the town and we want to do the Club proud and the town proud.”
It won’t be an easy task with a challenging encounter expected against last year’s premiers, the Cronulla Sharks.
“Every week is a test for us at the moment, especially coming off the back of playing Melbourne (Storm) and the (Canberra) Raiders, they have both got really good forward packs,” explained King.
“Again, this week they have a good forward pack but a good team all round across the park and there’s plenty for us to look at.
“The last two weeks haven’t been great for us off the back of three wins so going into next season for us, it’s a big stepping stone this week to be able to play well and try to finish off the season on a high so we can hit the ground running.”
Two grades are in action for Old Boys Day this Sunday for the Knights' final home game. NYC kick-off at 11.45am before the NRL action at 2pm.
