SUNDAY night's State of Origin was as much celebration as sporting contest after Brad Fittler's side raced out to an early lead almost as quickly as Latrell Mitchell carried his crucial intercept towards a try.
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The day preceding the match also gave Hunter football fans something to celebrate: the prospect of the third match, originally slated for Sydney as the only stop this side of the border, moving to Turton Road.
Holding the match in Sydney appears untenable given that city is in lockdown and grappling with an outbreak of the Delta variant that had Premier Gladys Berejiklian dubbing it one of the scariest periods in the pandemic.
Newcastle's credentials as a sporting venue are clear: Asian Cup clashes featuring the Socceroos, rugby league Test matches, top-flight rugby union, an A-League grand final, record Matildas crowds, Supercars, the World Surfing League, big-time boxing to name a few.
That pedigree is what made the region's Women's World Cup omission so egregious. State of Origin in regional areas has proven a hit already in this series.
The Townsville match so dominantly won by NSW was a hot ticket among Queenslanders, who were quick to fill the far north venue when tickets went on sale.
That would be a less arduous hurdle for Newcastle if it won the honour of hosting the third match in this series, given the state's limitations on venue capacity introduced over the weekend. Yet the circumstances - Sydney in lockdown, a series decided, the Hunter's track record on COVID-19 cases - may make it the perfect time to test the waters of taking the NRL's flagship to the second largest city in NSW.
It is no pipe dream. "Despite the growing risk of COVID-19 in Greater Sydney, we will not be giving up our right to host the State of Origin decider," deputy premier John Barilaro tweeted on Sunday.
It is not a straight road, however. There is a logical inconsistency in drawing together thousands of sports fans when homes in regional areas can only welcome five visitors at a time. But if the match is to go ahead, it is hard to think of a better potential home for it than here.
As a storied heartland of rugby league, where better than Newcastle to watch the NSW side lift the shield? It demands the Hunter's COVID-free streak continue, certainly, but offers the kind of opportunity that bought top-flight surfing to Merewether.
Newcastle deserves its call up, and if not now, when?
