Knights fans were hoping for a Cinderella story.
After finishing at the bottom of the competition last year, the Hunter's team had made a stunning resurgence in their 2026 campaign to return to the finals to face the Warriors in New Zealand yesterday.
They were Davids to the Goliaths across the ditch, but Cardiff Heights diehard Connor Harding said they had been punching above their weight all season.
"It has been a massive turnaround," he said. "We're not the favourites, but then we weren't the favourites last week either."
Mr Harding and his partner, Tara, were among a packed theatre at the Tower Cinemas yesterday to watch the Knights and Warriors clash on the big screen.
For Mr Harding, in the team's colours with Ms Harding and a bucket of popcorn between them, there was no bad results at this point in the season.
Even if they had bowed out yesterday, it would've been a season all Knights fans could be proud of.
"We're already doing way better than we should be doing," he said. "Even to get here is really good."
To the delight of the theatre, and bars and loungerooms across the Hunter, the Knights held on for a thrilling 12-10 win.
