Newcastle goes all in ahead of NRL grand final

It's been 25 years since the Newcastle Knights last played in an NRL grand final, and the city is going all out to celebrate. From fresh tattoos to blue sausages, locals are showing their team spirit ahead of the decider against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

Tattoo artist Dave Ross cancelled all his appointments this week to make space for footy fans itching to get one of his limited-edition Knights tattoos. "It's just been insane, like nothing I could ever imagine," he said.

"I get to spend the week tattooing Knights designs on all these diehard fans … it's been incredible." Fifteen more tattoos have been booked in for later this week, with Mr Ross staying back until 9pm to get them done.

Lifelong supporter Sam Mawer decided to get a tattoo after the team made it to the grand final. "I'm a Knights tragic … I didn't think we would happen again in my lifetime," he said. "I'm getting it on the back of my calf so I can look down every now and then and hopefully have fond memories of the grand final."

Sam Mawer got a tattoo with the Knights' slogan: "Defend the kingdom." On the cusp of their first premiership in 25 years, local tattoo shops have jumped on the Newcastle Knights bandwagon.

Armidale man Dave Battese got inked live on the radio to win tickets to the Knights' last grand final match against the Parramatta Eels in 2001. "People were cringing because you could literally hear the tattoo gun bouncing on my skull," he said. "I was making jokes about how this is nothing [compared] to the pain that Newcastle are going to put on Parramatta."

Mr Battese said he's proudly displayed his tattoos for 25 years, including through five wooden spoon seasons, and hopes he can add a fresh tattoo this year to celebrate a third premiership.

Other Newcastle businesses have jumped on the bandwagon, including a butcher creating a blue sausage. "It's a pork sausage and just added a little bit of food dye," manager Johnny Emeny said. "We just wanted to get behind our mighty boys as they get to this grand final and no better way than throwing a few blue sausages on the barbecue," he said.

"The whole town has just gone Knights crazy." Since Monday, homes and businesses across the Hunter have been painted red and blue in support of the team. Other Knights-themed foods like blue burgers in pubs and blue-and-red ice cream have also popped up around town.

A Newcastle pub is selling a blue burger with red sauce to support the Knights.

Cliff Parker remembers exactly where he was when the Knights won their first grand final in 1997. Dressed in a suit of shining armour, Mr Parker and his trusty horse Rocky led the Knights team bus back through the city after their win against Manly.

"It was absolutely mad … I could not believe the amount of people lining the streets," Mr Parker said. "I was riding up and down in the crowd, and they were going nuts." For 25 years, Mr Parker and Rocky were the team's mascot, the Newcastle Knight, riding along the sidelines at home games to hype up the crowd before kick-off.

But no-one ever knew the identity of the mysterious armoured crusader. "No-one ever knew me as Cliff by name," said Mr Parker. "Rocky was definitely the more famous one."

Another iconic mascot at Knights home games was Sir Rusty, portrayed by Chris Kelly. "Dad would ride around the ground on a quad bike as Sir Rusty and have fun with the crowd … just goofing off," Mr Kelly's son, Sammy Pistolas, said.

For this final, Mr Pistolas is supporting the team by tattooing Knights fans in the original Sir Rusty costume. "I think my Mum made it … the body piece is from the 1997 grand final, and the head piece is from the 2001 grand final," he said.