No place like home as Knights look to host maiden semi-final

Team spirit is well and truly alive in the Hunter four days out from the highly anticipated NRL home final, and the high-flying NRLW Knights are desperate to get amongst the action.

After playing their "home" final to Brisbane last year, the second-placed Knights will look to book one of the first ever NRLW home finals on Saturday when they take on the ladder-leading Roosters in the penultimate round of the regular season.

With both sides sitting on 12 points, Newcastle can all but confirm a top two finish and home advantage for week of the finals in a fortnight's time.

“It would be amazing, obviously there’s been sell-out crowds here in the last few rounds with nearly 20 000 people attending our game,” Newcastle hometown girl Caitlan Johnston told NRL.com.

“It’s a big thing for us being Novocastrians so it would be great to have a semi-final in Newcastle here and I’m really looking forward to fighting for the opportunity.

“We just need to identify what our next job is, complete what we need to do and get the job done but it would be amazing to host a semi-final in front of our home fans.”

Having represented her country and pulled on a sky blue jersey for New South Wales, the 22-year-old prop believes she has ticked all but one box in her rugby league career – running out onto McDonald Jones Stadium in an NRLW final.

“I’m pretty content with where I am now. I’m 22 now and I’ve completed everything you can as a female in rugby league at the moment,” she said. “So for me now it’s just about leading from the front and defending our premiership.

“Our big motto is 'be the player that everyone wants to play with' so that’s something I’m looking forward to bringing at the Knights."

Born and bred in Belmont, the Jillaroos prop has long been a big advocate for the growth of the women’s game in the Hunter region and strengthening pathways to the NRLW.

Johnston said a semi-final showdown would be a big boost for the growth of grassroots women's rugby league in Newcastle.

“The growth in the women’s game here in Newcastle itself, with all the new developments that we have is amazing,” she said.

“Some of the girls have just come off a grand final win for Lakes United so it’s all happening here and amazing to see the growth of the women’s game is just getting better and better.

“We were all a bit unsure about the 10 teams coming in this year but we’ve definitely all taken it in our strides.

"It’s another big step getting the home finals and it's definitely exciting for what the future has to hold.”