Fletcher Sharpe can hear it every time he stops at traffic lights. Kalyn Ponga could see it when fans started ripping off jerseys and swinging them around inside Newcastle pubs. Then one glance at the crowd lining the fences and a club great - Akuila Uate - sums it up perfectly.
"How about this, huh," he said, wearing a Knights Henny Penny jersey as finals excitement started to spill over.
Those four words couldn't be more accurate. Even the most diehard Knights fans would've thought you were crazy if you mentioned the words "preliminary final" or "grand final" before a ball had been kicked this year.
It's rare for teams to go from last to the finals, let alone be on the cusp of the grand final. But that's what makes the Knights the underdog story of Australian sport this year. Heck, they might just be the underdog story of the decade.
Fans stop Sharpe at the traffic lights to yell "Up the Knights!" They skip school and work to watch training. They snap up more than 25,000 tickets in less than 24 hours after an Eden Park epic last weekend to have a front-row seat to the next show.
Newcastle is a different place when the Knights are winning. More than 1000 fans turned up to watch Justin Holbrook put his side through an open training session on Wednesday - making the heartbreak of the wooden spoon and a sacked coach last year a distant memory.
That crowd figure is just a drop in the Merewether Ocean Baths when compared with the thousands who will flood the M1 on their way to a preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday.
No one expects the Knights to beat the powerhouse Panthers and Nathan Cleary. Understandable given the Knights are in their first preliminary final in 13 years, and the Panthers have played in a preliminary final every year since 2020.
But the Knights have made a believer out of everyone, especially their fans.
Somehow with Dylan Brown, Jacob Saifiti and Trey Mooney still sidelined - and Dylan Lucas with barely 10 minutes under his belt after returning from what many feared was a season-ending injury - the Knights are still standing.
So it is little wonder why fans erupted - and started stripping off jerseys in a state of euphoria - in pubs across the city following a 12-10 win over the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland last week.
"I wish I was at the pub with them," Ponga said.
"We understand the impact that we have. It's awesome. A lot of people in this club, in this playing group, in this town, they want success. It's been a long time since we've been in a prelim, and the thought of being only 80 minutes away from a grand final is pretty special.
"We understand as a playing group the impact that we can have on our community, and we're definitely feeling that impact now. Obviously, everyone is wishing us good luck, excited about where we're at."
Which is why fans are pulling on 1997 jerseys with a faded No.10 on the back, why 65 per cent of tickets sold for this weekend's preliminary final have been snapped up by Knights fans, and why Sid Fogg's bus drivers are preparing to spend a premium on fuel.
Because these days don't come around too often. Club legend Danny Buderus took the microphone at the open training session and mentioned his youngest is 13 years old, "and he has only ever seen the Knights doing not great."
"One hundred per cent, I've seen [videos of fans celebrating]. I had a good laugh to myself," Sharpe said.
"We knew we were over there playing in front of a nation that was against us, but back here, we knew all the pubs and clubs would be packed out with Knights fans cheering us on from back home.
"It's super exciting to get back home and be part of the town again and just see how excited the whole place is. There's a real good atmosphere getting around town at the moment. You only have to stop at a traffic light or be walking down the street and there's people yelling out, 'Up the Knights.'
"As soon as you go out of the house, there's people cheering, you see Knights jerseys around everywhere. When the team's going well, the town's buzzing, and it's super cool to be a part of."
Few know the feeling quite like Andrew Johns.
You only have to see the footage of the eighth Immortal watching from the commentary box to see just how much it means when the Knights are winning.
"I watched the one back on the weekend. He gets up and cheers, and carries on a little bit, but that's pretty cool. Obviously, from Cessnock, from Newy, he's never lost the passion for the town and the club," Sharpe said.
"For us current players, it gives us a boost when you see one of the greats of the game up there cheering you home."
Standing between the Knights - last year's wooden spooners, may we remind you - and a grand final appearance is the greatest club team of this generation.
The Panthers are chasing their fifth premiership in six years. The Knights haven't even had a shot at the title since Johns and Ben Kennedy inspired an upset against the Parramatta Eels 25 years ago.
The Knights have picked up five wooden spoons since then. But today, a city and its football team are daring to dream.
"They've been the pinnacle of the competition for the last five or six years and won a handful of premierships to go with it. To be the best, you've got to beat the best, and that's the position we're in on the weekend," Sharpe said.
"The team's super confident, a lot of belief. We know if we play our best footy, we can go down there and beat them and book our spot in the grand final."
A grand final chance a year after hitting rock bottom? How about that.
