When the Newcastle Knights needed someone to stand up, fullback Tamika Upton wanted the ball in her hands.
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Late in Sunday's NRLW grand final against the Gold Coast Titans, with the Knights trailing 18-12, Upton scored two tries in the space of five minutes to turn the result on its head.
Minor premiers and defending champions, the Knights did it the hard way at Accor Stadium, twice coming from behind to claim a 24-18 victory in front of 40,649 fans.
After falling 8-0 behind early, the Knights led 12-8 at half-time following three tries in quick succession before the break.
But they lost that advantage when centre Jaime Chapman scored twice early in the second stanza to help the Titans move six points ahead.
Gold Coast held that advantage for much of the second half and looked on track for the club's first top-flight premiership.
But Upton's 60th and 65th-minute tries, the second coming off a solo kick-and-chase play, ensured it was Newcastle's day.
Only a few minutes earlier, Upton had tried a similar kick and sent the ball metres over the dead-ball line.
But she didn't hesitate to try it again.
"Those things aren't a fluke," Knights coach Ronald Griffiths said.
"When you're at training you play a lot of small-sided games where Tamika practises that. We put them under pressure in attack and you'll see Tamika try that time and time again.
"She doesn't get it right at training, but ... she keeps practising and that's why when the game is on the line [and] under fatigue she can get it done."
![Newcastle with the premiership trophy. Newcastle with the premiership trophy.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AFKkRPHwQbXhqFfb42nFTx/8e42fb77-7c7e-4627-a998-767aaf13ba5d.jpg/r0_0_5184_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Upton's performance earned her a consecutive Karyn Murphy Medal.
Her two-try heroics came just four days after winning the Dally M Medal.
"Tamika is undoubtedly a class player but she knows the team around her allowed her to do a job," Griffiths said.
Skipper Hannah Southwell echoed Griffiths, saying Upton, a Central Queensland product, suited Newcastle's style of play.
"She is a classy player but the people around her allow her to play like that," she said. "We've seen Tamika in systems where she hasn't been able to flourish, but at Newcastle the way we play she is able to do what she wants ... that's a full credit to the girls around her as well."
Griffiths praised the Gold Coast for their strong start, which had Newcastle trailing 8-0 after an opening 20 minutes where they barely left their own half.
![The Knights celebrate a Shanice Parker try. Pictures by Marina Neil The Knights celebrate a Shanice Parker try. Pictures by Marina Neil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AFKkRPHwQbXhqFfb42nFTx/4513cdce-bfb0-4abf-a04c-8f4825bf8341.jpg/r343_0_3497_2741_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Titans completed their first 10 sets and enjoyed 60 per cent of possession in the first 15 minutes.
Chapman scored a beautifully crafted try 13 minutes in and a penalty goal extended the lead shortly after.
But once the Knights got into attacking field position, there was no stopping them.
Upton set up winger Jasmin Strange for their first on the left flank in the 24th minute, before Sheridan Gallagaher scored in similar fashion on the opposite edge four minutes later.
Shanice Parker's run on the right edge earned Newcastle their third nine minutes before half-time.
Chapman would complete her hat-trick shortly after the break but it would be to little avail as the Knights raced to victory in the last 10 minutes.
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