Newcastle Knights' grand final run unites veteran Frizell and youthful Sharpe

The Newcastle Knights have reached the NRL grand final, ending a wait that has stretched across Tyson Frizell's entire top-flight career.

Frizell has played 305 NRL games over 15 seasons, representing New South Wales in the State of Origin and Australia at Test level, yet had never featured in a grand final until the Knights' run this year.

He admitted the closing stages of past deciders had become difficult to watch from the outside.

"It usually gets switched off or I stop watching it as soon as that siren goes because – while you're happy for everyone – it burns, those celebration of the boys," Frizell said, according to Guardian Rugby League.

The Knights' progress to the season decider has been described by Guardian Rugby League as an improbable one, and it has energised Newcastle, with the city said to have come alive around the club's campaign.

For teammate Fletcher Sharpe, the occasion carries a different kind of significance.

Sharpe grew up watching Newcastle's past premiership-winning sides but was not even born when the club last won a title, according to the report.

That gap between generations has become part of the story of this Knights team, with a player who spent 15 years chasing a grand final appearance now sharing a dressing room with one who has only known Newcastle through the achievements of others.

Guardian Rugby League's Jack Snape, reporting from Newcastle, framed the run as a moment that has resonated with both the club's longest-serving campaigners and its emerging talent.

The grand final represents the biggest test yet for a Knights side built around that blend of experience and youth, with Frizell finally given the chance to experience the finish he has spent a career avoiding on television.