Newcastle Jets v Newcastle Knights (Rugby League)

Once upon a time in Australia it was hard to talk football at work, it was hard to watch a game on TV, read about it in the newspapers or even find a blogsite about Australian football.

How times have changed.

And in Newcastle, how many times have my friends turned their eyes skyward over the years when I said I think the game could take off.



"Not in Melbourne it's so AFL, not in Newcastle it's so Rugby League," came the various, repeated responses time and time again. (We're talking a twenty year debate here:)

Well the Rugby League Knights only pulled one bigger crowd than the Jets sunday crowd of 23,000 last season. And that was the farewell to Andrew Johns, the biggest player in Rugby League for years.

And in the local stores Jets gear is outselling Knights gear.

No surprises maybe. A sign of the times and a sign that football is here to stay, just in case you weren't sure!

Full article is here at FoxSports, here's a bit of it

NEWCASTLE Knights will kick off a major advertising campaign on Sunday to attract season ticket sales as the city's love affair with football code rivals Newcastle Jets continues to soar.

Only seven weeks out from the start of the NRL season, the Knights' pre-season build-up has been shunted into the background for most fans by the Jets' surge towards their first A-League grand final appearance.

As unthinkable as it may once have been, the Knights now have a legitimate rival for the hearts and minds of the Newcastle sporting public.

A crowd of almost 23,000 witnessed the Jets' pulsating 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Central Coast on Sunday, bettered only once last season by the Knights when the club farewelled champion halfback Andrew Johns.

Sales of Jets merchandise is at an all-time high with major retail outlet Rebel, the official suppliers for the A-League, claiming Jets gear easily out-sold Knights merchandise in its Charlestown store.

"It is not easy to break it down but we would probably sell between 30 and 40 per cent more Jets gear than Knights gear," Rebel assistant manager Matt Dunn said.

"But you have to remember the Knights have their own merchandise store at the stadium and it is also available at other outlets so it is hard to make a comparison."

But far from viewing the Jets as a rival, Knights boss Steve Burraston insists their success is a positive for the town and his club.

Burraston claimed fans will never be forced to choose between the two because their seasons don't overlap.