Quick plays: Mud, sweat and cheers on a wet weekend of Newcastle sport

Knights coach Adam O'Brien has advised his players to ignore outside noise after a "distracted" showing in a 30-point loss to the Bulldogs.

Knights legend Andrew Johns reckons Newcastle need to look to English import Will Pryce to spark their attack.

Hopefully the town will have more to cheer about at the sold-out venue on Thursday night when NSW attempt to wrap up the women's State of Origin in game two.

It is the first time the full house sign has been put up for a women's State of Origin with a record crowd of about 30,000 set to fill the stands.

The Sky Blues, who feature home-grown Knights Caitlan Johnston, Olivia Higgins and Yasmin Clydsdale, hold a 1-0 lead in the first-ever best-of-three series for the women.

Coach Tony Munro rated Merewether's 34-26 triumph over Hunter Rugby leaders Maitland as one of the toughest but the experienced mentor was adamant the game should not have gone ahead at a Marcellin Park mudbath on Saturday.

"The game should never have gone ahead. It was a safety issue. I don't think enough consideration was given to the players' welfare," Munro said.

In Shute Shield, the Hunter Wildfires men's win over West Harbour had coach Scott Coleman confident they could push for a finals showing if they can keep replicating the same form they produced at a waterlogged Concord Oval on Saturday.

The Wildfires women continued their winning ways by also overcoming West Harbour in an earlier match.

Defence continues to prove key for Hunter in Jack Scott Cup with the focus on sharpening up in attack.

Only one men's and one women's NPL Northern NSW match went ahead over the weekend with some teams now facing a backlog of up to four washed-out games.

An ankle injury to captain Jeremy Wilson was the one negative for Broadmeadow as they beat Cooks Hill on Friday night before rain doused out the rest of the weekend's fixtures.

The victory moved Broadmeadow to 33 points, four off leaders Lambton Jaffas, who have also had 13 matches.

In the sole women's match to get on, Adamstown regained fifth position after soundly beating last-placed Warners Bay at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Saturday night.

Coach Brett Godfrey conceded Newcastle City had some work to do but felt playing on a dry pitch would give a better indication of where their season was headed after succumbing 5.3 (33) to 3.1 (19) to Killarney Vale in "atrocious conditions" on Saturday.

The result at Adelaide Street Oval ended City's unbeaten run this Hunter Central Coast AFL women's season and continued the Bombers' perfect start to 2024.

"It was like a bog hole," Godfrey said.

Meanwhile, Warners Bay men's side got back in the winners' circle and Terrigal Avoca took an important win over Cardiff.

A send-off at half-time gave Cessnock an extra man for much of the second half of their Newcastle Rugby League clash with South Newcastle on Saturday, and they took full advantage - claiming a 30-12 win at home.

Going a man down, Souths struggled to contain the home side who ran away with the game on a mad-caked Cessnock Sportsground.

In women's premiership action, Maitland overpowered Souths 34-0 at Cessnock on Saturday.

The Newcastle Falcons, boosted by new import Leo O'Boyle, beat Illawarra for a much-needed victory in NBL1 East with their most complete performance of the season while their women also got up for an 11-2 win-loss record.

Norths coach Dave Willott took encouragement from a 5-2 win over traditional rivals Souths which lifted them to third place after round nine of the men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League. The Blues went to 10 points, one ahead of Maitland, who lost to leaders Gosford (17 points) 5-2 at home on Sunday.

The Newcastle premier league women's round on Saturday was abandoned because of the torrential rain.

It was a tough weekend in the west for the Newcastle Northstars, who returned from a Perth double-header with only one point. The Northstars went down 4-2 on Saturday night then 3-2 on Sunday in a game which went to a shoot-out.

Newcastle Netball was also abandoned due to the weather on Saturday.