A weekend of Newcastle sport: September 23-24, 2023

On a perfect spring Sunday afternoon, the Knights defeated Brisbane 30-24 in front of a delighted and deafening record crowd of 12,689 for a stand-alone NRLW match.

The semi-final figure eclipsed the previous highest attendance of 7800 at the 2021 grand final in Redcliffe.

The Knights started fast to lead 18-4 at the break then held off a fast-finishing Broncos to line up a premiership showdown with the Gold Coast Titans at Accor Stadium this Sunday.

It is a dream come true for home-grown Knights captain Hannah Southwell, who watched injured from the sidelines as Newcastle historically won last year's grand final.

Meanwhile, the Knights' men's season may be over but outgoing Dominic Young has been nominated in two categories - winger of the year and try of the year - for Wednesday night's Dally M Awards.

The Knights NRLW side have several Dally M nominations as well, including Ron Griffiths (coach of the year), Shanice Parker (centre of the year), Sheridan Gallagher (winger of the year), Yasmin Clydsdale (second-rower of the year), Tamika Upton (fullback of the year) and Jesse Southwell (try of the year).

Newcastle Rugby League premiers Maitland made it a title clean sweep across 2022 and 2023 when they powered past St Mary's in the President's Cup final at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

The Pickers sealed another piece of silverware with a 32-10 scoreline.

They claimed the same NSW Rugby League crown 12 months ago, having clinched minor-major Newcastle Rugby League premierships in both 2022 and 2023.

The Newcastle Jets opened their A-League Women's pre-season campaign with a 3-2 loss to Central Coast Mariners in Tamworth on Sunday.

Newcastle trailed 2-0 midway through the second half before rallying, and goals by Milan Hammond and Sophie Hoban restored parity.

But then Annalise Rasmussen pounced on a Jets error in the 80th minute to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead, which they defended until full-time.

Newcastle have another three friendlies before their season proper kicks off against the Mariners in Gosford on October 14.

Hunter Central Coast coach Kate Handley is eyeing more footy for the women's representative side after they defeated South Coast in Newcastle on Saturday.

Hunter Central Coast 11.8 (74) dominated South Coast 1.2 (8) in the post-season fixture at No.1 Sportsground, which had been rescheduled from July.

Newcastle City's Sarah Halvorsen led the way, kicking four goals, and was duly awarded the Nadene McBride Medal as the best on ground.

Meanwhile, Newcastle products Asha Turner Funk, Holly Cooper and Marnie Robinson were all invited to the 2023 AFLW Draft Combine.

Robinson, who has had a break-out AFL year, was ruled out on Saturday, however, due to a hip issue.