Justin Holbrook transformed the Newcastle Knights from last year's wooden spooners to NRL grand finalists, drawing from his successful coaching past.
Justin Holbrook has wound back the clock to transform the Newcastle Knights from pretenders to grand finalists - just as he did as head coach at the Gungahlin Bulls in 2008 while working as a soft drink sales rep.
Holbrook has taken last year's wooden spooners and sprinkled his magic dust into each and every player at the Knights to win through to Sunday's decider against the Sydney Roosters.
In the 19-man squad named for the grand final, only halfback Sandon Smith, hooker Harrison Graham and bench forward Pasami Saulo were not at the club in some capacity in 2025.
It was the same story at Gungahlin, in Canberra's north, 18 years ago when former NRL prop Mark Nicholls played under Holbrook as an 18-year-old in the Canberra Raiders Cup competition.