A "proud Central Coast man", Knights prop Jacob Saifiti was only too pleased to play alongside another couple of Coasties last week.
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Captaining Newcastle against St George Illawarra, Safiti led out a side which featured fellow The Entrance Tigers juniors Riley Jones, who was on debut, and Oryn Keeley, who was making his second NRL appearance.
Keeley also played for Northern Lakes Warriors.
The young duo were the latest products to come off a production line of talent from the Central Coast.
Newcastle's side already includes Jacob and Daniel Saifiti (The Entrance), Bradman Best (Woy Woy) and Phoenix Crossland (Erina), and there's few more highly fancied prospects coming through the system.
"There's a fair few getting around," Saifiti said.
"I'm a proud Central Coast man, so it's good seeing not only Central Coast people playing for this club ... but we always get a lot of family and friends coming up to watch.
"It's good to see the young kids doing well."
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Once an area the Knights could call their own, multiple NRL clubs have tried to make the Coast theirs over the years. The Sydney Roosters are the most recent to have ties to the region.
In an example of their foothold, the Central Coast's Harold Matthews Cup (under-16) team no longer has its own identity, the Centurions, they're the Roosters.
But Knights CEO Philip Gardner said the coast remained a key part of the club's development area, and the aforementioned players were prime examples.
"Our region is from the Central Coast to the Queensland border," Gardner said.
"Central Coast is part of our nursery, it's part of our heartland. Wyong and The Entrance both play in the local competition.
"It's very important to us ... and the North Coast for that matter, and out west."
While the Roosters have tried to shore up the Central Coast, the Bulldogs have made ties to the Mid North Coast. The Tigers have also taken games to Tamworth and the Sharks play annually in Coffs Harbour.
But Gardner insists those areas have not "been lost".
"We go out to Farrer [Tamworth's Agricultural School] every year for our camp, and we'll be back out there again this year because it is an important area for us," he said.
"It's taken us a while to get back to the sort of coverage we've always wanted to have.
"But you've got to remember, we took over a club that had won three wooden spoons - we were in a difficult situation, and then we had COVID.
"I think we're just now on the cusp of that journey around pathways.
"We're committed, in a period of time, to having 70 per cent of our top-30 [roster] coming from our area."
