The Newcastle Knights Women are an Australian rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The team is part of the Newcastle Knights club and competes in the National Rugby League Women's Premiership (NRLW). The team's home ground is McDonald Jones Stadium. The team has won two premierships over its history (2022 and 2023).
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| Club information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Newcastle Rugby League Football Club | ||
| Nickname(s) | Novocastrians | ||
| Colours | Primary: Blue Red Secondary: White | ||
| Founded | Team: 2021 Club: 1987 | ||
| Website | newcastleknights.com.au | ||
| Current details | |||
| Ground(s) |
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| CEO | Phil Gardner | ||
| Coach | Ben Jeffries | ||
| Captain | Hannah Southwell | ||
| Competition | NRL Women's Premiership | ||
 Current season | |||
| Uniforms | |||
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| Records | |||
| Premierships | 2 (2022, 2023) | ||
| Runners-up | 0 | ||
| Minor premierships | 1 (2023) | ||
| Wooden spoons | 1 (2021) | ||
| Most capped | Yasmin Clydsdale, Olivia Higgins, Shanice Parker – 28 | ||
| Highest try scorer | Tamika Upton – 19 | ||
| Highest points scorer | Jesse Southwell – 142 | ||
History
editOn 11 June 2021, the Newcastle Knights were granted a licence to compete in the 2021 National Rugby League Women's (NRLW) competition. Recently retired Knights player Blake Green was announced as the head coach.[1] The season was planned to commence in August 2021, postponed to October 2021 and further postponed to 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
On 1 July 2021, the Knights announced their first ever NRLW signing in Indigenous All Stars and Prime Minister's XIII representative Caitlan Johnston-Green, who was a foundation Tarsha Gale Cup player for the Knights in 2018 before spending two seasons with the Sydney Roosters NRLW side.[3]
On 25 November 2021, it was announced that Knights Tarsha Gale Cup coach Casey Bromilow would be taking on the head coach role after Green had been appointed into a specialist halves role alongside Andrew Johns with Newcastle's NRL side.[4] Jess Skinner was announced as the assistant coach.[5] On the same day, the Knights announced a further six Newcastle and Hunter based signings in Bobbi Law from the Sydney Roosters, Jayme Fressard from the Brisbane Broncos and Georgia Page from the St. George Illawarra Dragons, as well as Phoebe Desmond, Chantelle Graham and Kyra Simon from local teams. Six development players were also announced in Bree Chester, Sophie Clancy, Matilda Jones, Kayla Romaniuk, Jesse Southwell and Tylah Vallance.[6]
On 1 December 2021, the Knights signed nine Kiwi Ferns representatives in Ngatokotoru Arakua, Maitua Feterika, Annetta Nu'uausala, Charntay Poko, Krystal Rota, Charlotte Scanlan, Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly, Katelyn Vaha'akolo and Kararaina Wira-Kohu,[7] Two days later, the club signed Romy Teitzel from the Brisbane Broncos, AFLW player Paige Parker, rugby sevens player Emma Sykes and North Queensland Gold Stars players Rangimarie Edwards-Bruce, Katie Green, Emma Manzelmann and Tahlulah Tillett.[8]
In January 2022, the Knights signed Kirra Dibb from the New Zealand Warriors after Emma Sykes withdrew from the squad.[9] On 21 February, the 24-woman squad was finalised with the signing of Shannon Evans from the Central Coast Roosters[10] and Romy Teitzel was named team captain, Caitlan Johnston-Green and Krystal Rota named as club captains.[11]
The club played in 5 matches without a win in its inaugural season.[12]
In April 2022, Ronald Griffiths was announced as the new head coach for the upcoming season.[13]
On 18 May 2022, the Knights announced the signing of Australian Jillaroos players Millie Boyle and Tamika Upton for their second season in the competition.[14][15] Additional notable signings for the 2022 season were Sydney Roosters premiership winning players Yasmin Clydsdale, Olivia Higgins, Simone Karpani, Tayla Predebon, Hannah Southwell,[16][17] former Jillaroos player Caitlin Moran and former Roosters players Shanice Parker and Kiana Takairangi.[18]
On 16 August 2022, Millie Boyle and Hannah Southwell were appointed co-captains of the club.[19]
After winning 4 of its 5 regular season games, the Knights won their first premiership during the 2022 NRL Women's season, defeating the Parramatta Eels 32–12.[20]
Players
editCurrent squad
edit| 2025 NRLW top 24 squad | Development list | Coaching staff | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Head coach
Updated: 21 November 2024 | ||||||
Captains
editAll players that have captained the Newcastle Knights Women's in first-grade.
| Cap No. | Name | Years As Captain | Debut Round | Games As Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Romy Teitzel | 2021 | Round 1 | 5 |
| 2. | Millie Boyle | 2022 | Round 1 | 7 |
| 3. | Hannah Southwell | 2022-24 | Round 1 | 19 |
| 4. | Tamika Upton | 2023 | Round 1 | 3 |
Coaches
edit- Casey Bromilow (2021)
- Ronald Griffiths (2022–2023)
- Ben Jeffries (2024-present)
Seasons
edit| Season | Regular Season | Finals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | ||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 48 | 123 | 0 | 6th | — |
| 2022 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 112 | 68 | 8 | 2nd | Premiers |
| 2023 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 224 | 119 | 16 | 1st | Premiers |
Club records
editThis section last updated: 14 September 2024.
Individual records
editCareer
editMost Games
- Yasmin Clydsdale 28
- Olivia Higgins 28
- Shanice Parker 28
Most Points
- Jesse Southwell 142
Most Tries
- Tamika Upton 19
Most Goals
Season
editMost Points
- Jesse Southwell (2023) 78
Most Tries
- Sheridan Gallagher (2024) 9
Match
editMost Points
- Sheridan Gallagher (Round 6, 2024) 14 vs. Wests Tigers
- Kirra Dibb (Semi Final, 2022) 14 vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons
Most Tries
- Sheridan Gallagher (Round 8, 2024) 3 vs. Gold Coast Titans
Most Goals
- Jesse Southwell (Round 9, 2024) 5 vs. North Queensland Cowboys
- Jesse Southwell (Round 8, 2024) 5 vs. Gold Coast Titans
- Jesse Southwell (Semi Final, 2023) 5 vs. Brisbane Broncos
- Jesse Southwell (Round 3, 2023) 5 vs. Parramatta Eels
- Kirra Dibb (Semi Final, 2022) 5 vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons
Margins and streaks
editBiggest winning margin
| Margin | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 46–4 |  Gold Coast Titans |
Cbus Super Stadium | 14 September 2024 |
Biggest losing margin
| Margin | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 4–40 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons |
McDonald Jones Stadium | 20 March 2022 |
Most consecutive wins
- 11 – (6 August 2023 – 3 August 2024)
Most consecutive losses
- 5 – (27 February 2022 – 27 March 2022)
References
edit- ^ "A New Dawn: Knights to enter NRLW in 2021". Newcastle Knights. 11 June 2021.
- ^ "NRLW season postponed until early 2022 due to pandemic". National Rugby League. September 2, 2021.
- ^ "Newcastle Knights sign Caitlan Johnston". Newcastle Knights. 1 July 2021.
- ^ "Knights target parity for NRLW stars". National Rugby League. 26 November 2021.
- ^ "Leading the way: Casey Bromilow appointed as NRLW Head Coach". Newcastle Knights. 25 November 2021.
- ^ "History confirmed: Knights announce first NRLW signings". Newcastle Knights. 25 November 2021.
- ^ "NRLW 2022: Newcastle Knights, club confirms nine Kiwi Ferns for inaugural campaign - NRL". National Rugby League. 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Knights finalise NRLW squad with signings of Queensland-based players". Newcastle Knights. 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Kirra Dibb joins inaugural NRLW squad". Newcastle Knights. 28 January 2022.
- ^ "Full NRLW squad and development list for 2021 season". Newcastle Knights. 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Trio named as inaugural Captains of the NRLW side". Newcastle Knights. 21 February 2022.
- ^ "NRLW 2021 - Newcastle Knights (W) - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
- ^ "Ronald Griffiths announced as NRLW Head Coach". Newcastle Knights. April 14, 2022.
- ^ "Teams: NSWRL Harvey Norman Women's Premiership - 2020 Round 2". League Unlimited. 22 Jul 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "Results: 2020 NSWRL Harvey Norman Women's Premiership Round 2". League Unlimited. 25 Jul 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "Knights announce more signings". Newcastle Knights. June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Premiership winner joins the Knights". Newcastle Knights. June 1, 2022.
- ^ "Knights confirm further 2022 NRLW signings". Newcastle Knights. June 9, 2022.
- ^ "2022 NRLW Co-Captains announced". Newcastle Knights. August 16, 2022.
- ^ "Custom Match List - RLP". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.