IF you've ever squeezed into a plastic seat for a Knights game at McDonald Jones Stadium after giving the debit card a fair whack for a mid-strength beer and pie, you've probably pined for the 'good ole days'.
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The days when you'd watch rugby league from a grassy hill without a video referee, the players were regular blokes with regular jobs, and there was a decent chance you'd see some biff.
Proud NSW Rugby League foundation club Newtown Jets have been embracing that suburban footy nostalgia with great success in recent years through the Beer Footy Food Festival at their spiritual home of Henson Park.
The Marrickville ground has literally been heaving for NSW Cup (NRL reserve grade) games with a mix of rugby league fans and hipster craft beer drinkers.
On Saturday the footy, craft beer and food truck concept is heading outside Sydney, for the first time, to launch the Newcastle Rugby League's 2024 season at the No.2 Sportsground.
READ MORE: Newcastle Rugby League 2024 season preview
It's a partnership between the Newcastle Rugby League (NEWRL) and Beer Footy Food Festival promoter, Sydney's The Music & Booze Co.
The "magic round" will feature five first-grade NEWRL games, beginning from 12pm, plus 16 craft brewery tents, food trucks, inflatables for the kids, Knights player signings and five bouts from Pro Wrestling Australia as half-time entertainment.
NEWRL general manager Adam Devcich, a former NRL referee, says the festival is about broadening the audience for the local competition.
"I thought the idea of kicking off our season with all our first-grade games together was one thing, but to have what is essentially a craft beer festival around it, I thought it was a really good idea to bring those concepts together," Devcich says.
"This isn't just five games of footy for people who just enjoy going to the footy, this is for people who enjoy a good afternoon out with a bit of entertainment for the kids, a few beers and enjoy a good time.
"This isn't just for a footy audience, it's for anyone who loves a good time."
This isn't just for a footy audience, it's for anyone who loves a good time.
- Adam Devcich, NEWRL GM
Devcich first proposed the magic round beer festival concept in 2018-19 when he was working as the league's operations officer.
But in the fiercely political clubland of local footy, the concept took some negotiation.
"To get it off the ground you're asking five clubs to give up a home game to do this concept," he says. "A lot of our clubs rely on their gate takings and bar takings from their home games to survive, so it is a big ask.
"But the concept here is the five clubs that have put their hand up to be the host teams, share in the profits of the day.
"I'm very grateful to the five clubs who put their hand up to say, 'yep, we'll forgo a home game to make this event happen'."
An essential part of the festival is the craft beer element. Well-known independent breweries Mountain Culture, BentSpoke, Grifter, Young Henrys, Willie The Boatman, Akasha and New England will be serving their beer, alongside Newcastle's Rogue Scholar and Good Folk.
For decades Tooheys has been the major sponsor of the NEWRL and the competition's exclusive beer provider. So opening the way for craft breweries also took careful negotiation.
"They have been great in terms of allowing us to create this environment where the craft brewers can come along to magic round," Devcich says.
Tooheys New and XXXX Gold will also be served at the festival.
Devcich is also confident the magic round festival will become an annual initiative.
"It's taken some time to get off the ground, but I feel like it's already generated really good interest and momentum and this is something I would like us to do every year," he says. "We just need some decent weather on Saturday and it'll be a really successful afternoon."
