THE bookmakers, media pundits and all but the most one-eyed loyalists have already written the Newcastle Knights off, and can anyone blame them?
After a demoralising, torturous 2022 campaign that delivered only six wins and left his team languishing in 14th position on the NRL ladder, Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien found himself lamenting a "shitty season" (his words) and searching for answers.
Whether the Knights will be any better this year is anyone's guess.
The punters apparently have their doubts, given that Newcastle are rated $51 long shots with TAB to win the title, and $6 chances in the most-losses (wooden spoon) category.
Only new franchise the Dolphins ($67 and $2.75) have been given shorter shrift in the betting markets.
But at a time when fans are desperately searching for a reason - any reason - to believe that the Knights can get back on track after last year's train wreck, the pages of history might provide a semblance of reassurance.
Since their foundation season in 1988, Newcastle have endured a number of campaigns that fell well short of expectations.
And more often than not, those disappointments were a catalyst for vastly improved showings the following year.
Indeed, some of the club's finest hours have followed on from seasons fans would prefer to forget.
The Newcastle Herald has cast an eye over the annals and identified ample evidence that might offer the long-suffering Novocastrian faithful a glimmer of hope.
1992
RARELY have the Knights kicked off a season with a greater sense of anticipation than they did in 1991.
Having finished 14th, seventh and equal fifth in their first three seasons, hopes were high that the upward trajectory would continue and deliver a maiden berth in the top-five finals series.
But after the Knights collected their first piece of silverware in the Nissan Sevens pre-season tournament, the wheels inexplicably fell off.
By the time a dramatic season was over, the Knights had won only six games, slipped to 13th on the table and foundation coach Allan McMahon had made the stunning decision to hand in his resignation.
Yet with largely the same squad - bolstered by halfback Matthew Rodwell, who would win the Dally M rookie-of-the-year award - McMahon's successor David Waite masterminded a spectacular turnaround a year later. The Knights finished fourth, beat Western Suburbs in their opening semi-final, then bowed out the next week after a gutsy 3-2 loss to St George.
In the space of 12 months, Newcastle had gone from their worst-ever season to their best.
1997
EVERY Knights fan worth his or her salt will know that 1997 was the year that delivered the greatest grand final victory of all time.
But do they remember how their team fared in 1996?
After a breakthrough 1995 crusade under new coach Mal Reilly, when they placed fifth and won play-off games against North Sydney and Cronulla, Newcastle nosedived a year later.
On a typically bleak night at Shark Park, a last-round loss left the Knights in ninth spot, a win outside the final eight, and wondering where it all went wrong.
A year down the track, basically the same group of players were celebrating the sweetest of premiership victories, after downing arch rivals Manly in an unforgettable title decider.
2006
AFTER opening the 2005 season with a club-record 13 consecutive defeats, the wooden spoon was unavoidable for Newcastle.
But at least they went down swinging, when Andrew Johns' return from a spate of injuries helped them win eight of their last 11 games. That proved a springboard into a redemptive 2006 season, which would be Michael Hagan's last as coach.
In the space of 12 months, the Knights climbed from the competition cellar to a top-four berth and a play-off win against Manly on home soil.
They were thrashed 50-6 a week later by eventual premiers Brisbane, but pride had been restored.
2008
IF not for some last-round heroics from Kurt Gidley, the Knights would have finished with the wooden spoon in 2007, which rates as one of the most tumultuous years that the club has endured.
The retirement of Andrew Johns - parlayed into a cleanout of long-serving players by new coach Brian Smith - reduced the club to apparent disarray.
Smith was demonised by certain media outlets, yet there was method in his madness. After a Moneyball-style makeover built around no-names such as Zeb Taia, Matt Hilder, Cooper Vuna, Junior Sa'u and Chris Houston, the Knights finished ninth in 2008, just one win outside the finals.
They actually won 12 of their 24 games that year, which in most seasons would be enough to qualify for the play-offs.
2013
WHEN Wayne Bennett arrived at Newcastle in 2012, they were immediately installed as premiership favourites.
Yet somehow, despite reaching the play-offs a year earlier under Rick Stone, the Knights slipped to an embarrassing 12th during Bennett's first season in charge.
The master coach reinforced his roster in the off-season with the recruitment of enforcers Beau Scott and David Fa'alogo, as well as enigmatic centre Joey Leilua.
The Knights were ninth mid-season but won their last two rounds to scrape into the finals in seventh position.
From there, they transformed, winning two sudden-death play-offs before being eliminated by eventual premiers the Roosters in the grand final qualifier.
They have not won a final in the ensuing nine seasons.
2020
MIDWAY through the 2019 season, the Knights were flying high in the top four and coach Nathan Brown was looking like a genius.
A six-game losing streak blindsided everyone and ultimately cost Brown his job.
Newcastle finished 11th, three points adrift of the eight. A year later O'Brien steered them into the finals, ending seven years in the wilderness.
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