Sydney footy club recreates the moment when the Newcastle Knights won the 1997 grand final as part of their Mad Monday celebrations
- Knights beat Manly in epic ARL grand final
- Andrew Johns and Darren Albert were the heroes
- Carinbah footy club has recreated that moment
A Sydney suburban rugby club has recreated one of the most iconic moments in football history as part of their Mad Monday celebrations.
Caringbah club De La Salle Rugby League celebrated the end of the season when they decided to host the thrilling final of the 1997 ARL Grand Final.
Players dressed in Newcastle jerseys re-enacted the final performance in which Andrew Johns handed off Darren Albert for a famous win that has become enshrined in rugby league folklore.
In 1997, the Australian rugby union league was split into two factions, with Newcastle winning the 12-team ARL competition, while Brisbane asserted their dominance in the rebellious 10-team Super League.
The Knights, only in their 10th season, reached their first major final, facing reigning premiers and arch-rivals, Manly.
Their journey to the finals was full of challenges.
BHP announced it would close that year, leaving the city and its workers in the doldrums.
Knights players celebrate on the back of a lorry in front of a reception by 50,000 supporters during a parade through the streets of Newcastle in 1997
Johns came out of hospital where he was treated for broken ribs and a punctured lung to play in the Grand Final where he laid out the winning pass for Darren Albert
Star halfback Andrew ‘Joey’ Johns spent most of the week in hospital with three broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Meanwhile, their inspirational captain, Paul ‘Chief’ Harragon, was battling a hamstring strain.
“We were up and down, we were reeling from all the job cuts from the BHP shutdown, the war in the Super League, it was our bicentenary and we had nothing to celebrate, so all those collective goals have the situation only worsens,” Harragon said. at the time.
Amid this dramatic backdrop, Johns gathered the strength to leave his hospital bed and join his teammates for their final training session.
Unfazed by the pain, he boarded the bus to Sydney with the team the day before the game. On the pitch, he played through the pain and eventually orchestrated the winning try for Darren Albert.
With only seconds left on the clock and the scores at 16-16, Johns started a fast run from dummy half down the tight blind side, luring in a pair of Manly defenders.
It created a gap big enough to accommodate the Queen Mary and Darren Albert saw it too and charged for a Johns pass for one of the most memorable rugby league tries in history.
While the offensive players dressed up as the role in Newcastle jerseys, the defensive players opted not to wear the Manly strip and instead dressed up as the Jamaican bobsleigh team made famous by the movie Cool Runnings.
“Weak defense from the Jamaican bobsleigh team,” joked one follower.
Players dressed as nuns, the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, Mario, Duffman, Marge Simpson and more came in to celebrate ‘Darren Albert’.