Rugby league legend Brad Fittler called for the Newcastle Knights to reinstate captain Kalyn Ponga as fullback after a 43-12 hammering at the hands of Parramatta on Friday night.
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In a tough weekend for the Knights, their SG Ball and Harold Matthews sides both lost in grand final showdowns.
It was a disappointing weekend for Newcastle's other sporting flagship team with the Jets' A-League season ending in a 2-0 loss to finals-bound Sydney FC.
Jets coach Arthur Papas, who says he is committed to seeing out what he started with the Jets, was then critical of an Australia Cup play-off which pits Newcastle against Melbourne Victory in July.
Wildfires enjoy view from the top
The Hunter Wildfires were celebrating, however, as they sat on top of the Shute Shield ladder for the first time in club history.
Hunter's women's team had no such luck, going down 15-7 to the Two Blues in their round-two clash of Jack Scott Cup.
Meanwhile, at a local level, Southern Beaches out-enthused and out-played Hamilton 30-21 at Passmore Oval on Saturday to register their first win after opening the campaign with consecutive losses.
At No.2 Sportsground, Maitland produced a "complete performance" to edge out Wanderers while premiers Merewether accounted for a plucky University at Bernie Curran Oval to stretch their winning start to the season to three.
Falcons double-up on Sydney Comets
Newcastle Falcons emerged from a month of mediocrity to shock Sydney Comets 89-74 at Newcastle Basketball Stadium on Saturday night in their most complete performance of the NBL1 East men's season.
In the women's game later, Abi Curtin, Kate Kingham, Mykea Gray and Emily Foy covered Nicole Munger's foul trouble to help Newcastle upset the Comets 86-70 to make it a memorable winning double for the Falcons.
Both Falcons teams will be back at home on Saturday.
Goannas show they are team to beat
Cessnock emerged as the team to beat in the Newcastle Rugby League premiership after outgunning defending champions Maitland 20-12 in a top-of-the-table bout at Cessnock Sportsground on Saturday.
Macquarie, Lakes United and Souths also posted weekend wins.
Tight at the top in NPLW
Lucy Jerram scored twice in as many minutes to set up Broadmeadow's 2-1 win over New Lambton on Sunday as Maitland lost to Charlestown by the same scoreline and dropped out of the top four after NPLW Northern NSW round eight.
Olympic and Magic are setting the pace on 19 points with Azzurri hot on their heels with 18. But there is a five-point gap to Adamstown (13) in fourth place as the competition prepares to get harder with an influx of A-League Jets players taking the field from round nine.
Cassidy Davis, Lauren Allan and Tara Andrews look set to boost New Lambton this weekend while Jets teammate Sophie Stapleford should be back in action for Maitland and long-serving A-League goalkeeper Claire Coelho has joined Olympic.
In NPLM NNSW, Lambton edged closer to leaders Charlestown with a tight victory over Azzurri at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
In other tight tussles, Cooks Hill and Maitland drew, Olympic downed New Lambton and Edgeworth got up over Valentine.
In more one-sided scorelines, Magic easily accounted for Adamstown and Weston defeated Lake Macquarie.
What else happened
West Leagues Balance pipped University of Newcastle by one goal in a see-sawing grand final rematch during round one of Newcastle championship netball at National Park on Saturday.
Opposing coaches Tracey Baggs (West) and Traci Baber (University) agreed the game could have gone either way.
Back-to-back minor premiers Souths were also first-round winners, beating Nova Thunder 58-47. Newcomers Waratah gave a good account of themselves despite losing to Junction Stella by three goals while Kotara South were comfortable victors over BNC.
A bolstered Newcastle Northstars sealed their first victory of the 2023 Australian Ice Hockey League campaign, beating Sydney Bears 3-2 at Macquarie Ice Rink on Saturday evening.
The Northstars benefitted from the return of key personnel for the clash.
A first-half goal from Newcastle's Ky Willott has helped the Kookaburras to withstand a strong challenge from New Zealand to finish their FIH Pro League campaign with a 4-2 victory in Christchurch on Sunday.
In men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League, Sam Mudford scored a hat-trick as Wests downed Maitland 3-1, leaders Norths drew with Gosford in the grand final rematch and Souths also shared the points with Tigers.
In the women's league, Gosford and Oxfords won to remain the undefeated teams after four rounds while Norah Head and Regals drew.
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