Sandon Smith started the season playing off the bench in Las Vegas.
The 23-year-old will finish the same campaign as the Knights starting halfback in an NRL grand final against his former club.
And it comes following an epic performance, featuring a match-winning double and moments respected NRL commentator Phil Gould reckons will reach "legendary status" in Newcastle.
Smith's intercept at the death with history in the balance was clutch, as minor premiers Penrith desperately attacked late and tried to reel in a narrow two-point deficit.
Once he successfully caught the ball, there was still 85 metres left to travel, with Panthers in hot pursuit.
But it wasn't just his own weary legs doing the hard yards. A red-and-blue wave of emotion, both inside Sydney's Olympic Stadium and back home down the M1, seemingly took hold and helped carry him, step by every step, towards the line.
The footrace was real. The heart rates palpable. The essence of time almost standing still. An unforgettable sporting scene.
The slide. The smile. The sonic sound of a crowd jam-packed with passionate Novocastrians. Frenzied celebrations. Rising as one.
The realisation of what just transpired. The embrace of mates. The boyhood dream and the goal of a team. A region's return to the big stage some 25 years in the making.
Smith managed to muster the concentration, and the energy, to kick that ensuing conversion, virtually as the full-time siren rang out.
But the deed was already done. A stirring victory secured. Scoreboard eventually reading 22-14, having trailed by eight at the break.
The Knights, down to 12 men and after a wooden spoon 12 months ago and for the first time since 2001, produced a performance for the ages and booked a ticket back to the decider.
"It's hard to put it into words," Smith told media outside the dressing sheds on Sunday night.
"There's so much emotion going on. A few tears came out. I was happy. I was tired. There was so much going on.
"I can't really explain it, but I'm just so happy for this team, this town. And we've got one more to go and I can't wait for this week."
Smith's sweet second came 21 minutes after his fleet-footed first, which put the Hunter club ahead approaching the hour mark.
It was a quick tap, almost from a bygone era, in midfield that caught his opponents napping. Darting past unsuspecting victims and snaking his way to the uprights.
That levelled proceedings 14-all with a kick to come. Another twist in this almighty tale.
"The first one [try], I was just trying to stay in the game. You see an opportunity, and they don't always come off, but that one worked well," Smith said.
"And the last one, I didn't know if I could make it either. My legs were hanging on there for dear life and I was happy to make it, ecstatic."
Gould, who was part of the Channel Nine broadcast alongside Andrew Johns, the only other player to wear Newcastle's famed No.7 jersey in a GF, later wrote about Smith's efforts on social media.
"Their other two tries were just individual brilliance from their halfback Sandon Smith," Gould said.
"Opportunistic? Yes. But cometh the hour, cometh the match winner.
"A quick tap to catch the Panthers napping, and the match-winning intercept on the final play of the day.
"These moments will be lifted into the realm of 'legendary status' whilst ever people in the future reminisce about Newcastle Rugby League."
Vision online has continued to emerge of the Homebush crowd going absolutely berserk, people back in the city's pubs dancing on tables, families gathered together in loungerooms across the Hunter, tears of joy overflowing and even one solo man riding Smith's sprint home like a Melbourne Cup chance down the straight at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
Aussie rock star Jimmy Barnes even took notice on X (formally Twitter): "The @NRLKnights fought a heroic battle to get the win over the @PenrithPanthers today. What a great game."
Smith, the man of the moment who had previously crossed for just one try this season and seven in total throughout his earlier 69 career matches, takes it up from here.
"It's been sort of the story for our whole season, adversity, and it just typifies our squad and our connection as a squad, but also the town as a whole," he said.
"It's such a Newcastle win, and I'm so happy to be a part of it, because no one in that shed there, no one wants to let each other down. We're all such good mates and when you bring that together it's pretty powerful and special."
Next up the Roosters, where he first plied his trade between 2023 and 2025, and a playmaking clash with outgoing Daly Cherry-Evans.
