Pasami Saulo is "getting chills" just thinking about it - because they've all seen the footage of Newcastle being painted red and blue before Darren Albert scored that try all those years ago.
So what do today's Newcastle Knights make of houses being painted in New Lambton, shopfronts turning red and blue in Cooks Hill, flags hanging from a crane in Merewether, banners draped across pubs, and just about every food - from sausages, to croissants, to doughnuts and burger buns - turning red and blue?
Oh, and don't forget the fans lining up at tattoo studios to celebrate seeing the Knights reach the NRL grand final against the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium tomorrow, or the Newcastle jersey painted on the chicken outside Charlestown Toyota.
"It's crazy. People are getting 'Better than Lego' tattoos, houses are being painted. It's unreal," Knights captain Kalyn Ponga said.
"I've always spoken about it throughout the years and what it means to so many people, but until you're in it, you don't really understand. Now that we're in it, you understand.
"It's such an amazing feeling, it's so special. What it means to so many people, it means to us as well. It's just an unreal feeling of pride, joy and excitement. We know that we're going to have a ridiculous amount of support on Sunday. The pubs are going to be packed out, it's going to be hectic. It's what you do it for."
And these fans have earned the right to soak it up.
Because they filled the McDonald Jones Stadium hill, even while their side was hurtling towards last year's wooden spoon - which has opened the door for Newcastle to become the first team since Western Suburbs in 1934 to go from worst to first.
They kept turning up when the Nathan Tinkler era - which promised so much - ended in disaster. The club was on its knees. Wayne Bennett left town. The rugby league community was reeling in the wake of a life-changing injury to a club favourite in Alex McKinnon.
Fans showed up in the years that followed, watching the Knights slump to three consecutive wooden spoons. Only once in that span did average home crowds dip below 15,000 - and that came in 2016, when Newcastle recorded just one win and one draw.
Maybe it was blind faith. But fans kept coming - and moments like this make those seemingly endless winters all worth it.
"Back in the first grand finals and all that - we've watched the videos - the crowds then, the fans, the town was crazy," Saulo said.
"But even now, the bus trip down to Sydney last was week crazy, and the crowd at the game was unreal. My ears were ringing, it was so good. I can only imagine what this week will be like."
The Knights got a taste when 12,000 filtered through the gates for an open training session on Wednesday morning. Even workers fixing the roof of the Andrew Johns Stand figured it was as good a time as any to down tools in front of a corporate box and soak up the atmosphere of a rugby league-mad town that soon snapped up 22,500 tickets to a stadium live site within minutes.
"This is the best week of my life," Knights all-time leading try-scorer Akuila Uate said. And he's not even playing.
Steve Simpson, who played in the 2001 grand final victory over Parramatta, says Novocastrians are "the best crowd in the league".
"Obviously we've had some tough periods over the last 25 years, and they still support you when you're going no good and bottom of the table," Simpson said. "Obviously they love to get on the bandwagon when we're doing well as well."
Dylan Lucas finds Newcastle's unwavering support "hard to put into words".
"But they've done that over the last how many years, even when we weren't doing that well, they still sell out that stadium behind us," Lucas said.
"Now that we're getting the results and they've got something to cheer about, they're turning up in numbers. I'm just so happy that they get to experience this and it's something we don't take lightly.
"I'm very grateful that I'm in this position and that I get the opportunity to go out there and try to do something special for this town and this club."
So if Lucas struggled to find the words to sum up the diehard Knights fans who have stood firm, we turn to Thomas Cant.
"If I had to put it into one word I would say 'thankyou', in capitals. The support we have is like no other NRL club. I hope the fans out there know how special it is and how much we appreciate it," Cant said.
"We're going to need it again Sunday, one more game. We're just so privileged and grateful to have a Newcastle fan base. Last year we got the wooden spoon, and in one of our last games at Mac Jones, we were still selling the joint out.
"No other NRL club in this competition has that so I think we have got the best supporters in the competition and forever grateful, thank you."
