Newcastle coach Ron Griffiths wants his NRLW side to harness the spirit of past Knights sides as they fight it out with Parramatta for a first premiership.
The Eels and Knights missed the finals in the 2021 edition of the competition but have rebounded to compete for silverware at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Sunday.
The Knights, who claimed the wooden spoon without a win to their name last season, have been re-energised by the addition of rampaging prop Millie Boyle and fullback Tamika Upton.
Griffiths knows the Knights supporters will be outnumbered by Parramatta fans hoping to celebrate a rare NRL/NRLW double on Sunday.
But he said his players only needed to look back at the club's historical successes for inspiration.
"I am humbled and grateful for the opportunities and when you talk about Newcastle it's a hard-working, blue-collar town," he said.
"From day one, we've worked hard, the community has been on board.
"But above all else, our players have really bought into what our club has built on the back off.
"We set out from day one to harness what the Newcastle way was about."
Griffiths will face off against Parramatta's Dean Widders in the first instance of two Indigenous coaches going head to head on grand final day.
The Newcastle mentor used Friday's pre-match press conference to thank Widders for giving him a start as an assistant while working in the NSW women's junior set-up.
"He (Widders) has been at the top for a long time but it's an extremely humbling and proud moment for our people," Griffiths said.
The Eels have been unpredictable this year and while they start as underdogs on Sunday, they have shown they can trouble anyone.
They lost their first four games of the season - three of them by a converted try or less - and then snuck into the finals with a last-round win over Brisbane.
But they pulled off the shock of the season when they thumped reigning champions Sydney Roosters 24-10 last week without star centre Tiana Penitani.
She will only be allowed to play if she is 100 per cent fit after struggling with a quad complaint.
"We have a really young team and we have certainly been on a journey of improvement and learning," Widders said.
"We've had a lot of fun along the way.
"We try and play a good style of footy. I back the girls to back themselves and hopefully that's come out these last few weeks."
