Newcastle captain Hannah Southwell believes the Knights have hit back at their doubters by beating Gold Coast 24-18 in the grand final to claim consecutive NRLW premierships.
After a career-best season, newly minted Dally M Medallist Tamika Upton was the hero for the Knights at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Sunday.
In the second of two comebacks she orchestrated in searing heat, Upton scored two tries to turn a six-point deficit into a game-winning six-point lead as the minutes ticked down.
Titans coach Karyn Murphy then presented the medal named in her honour for player of the match in the grand final to Upton for the second time in as many years.
"Tamika's undoubtedly a class player but she knows that the team around her allows her to do a job," Knights coach Ron Griffiths said.
The Knights, wooden spooners in 2021, are now on the cusp of an NRLW dynasty, losing only two of 18 games across their two premiership seasons.
Their latest triumph came despite significant roster turnover in the off-season, and confirms the first back-to-back titles, either men's or women's, in Newcastle club history.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet, I don't think it will for a while," said Southwell.
"We had people doubting us from day one.
"We had people saying, 'You've lost too many players', 'You won't be able to do it again'. We heard all that but we shut it out. We stuck to our game plan. We knew what we were doing."
Gold Coast dominated the territory battle all day, with starting props Shannon Mato and Jessika Elliston and fullback Evania Pelite leading the charge.
The Titans kicked for an 8-0 advantage in the first half after Southwell was penalised for pulling the hair of rival captain Georgia Hale.
On the back of Lauren Brown's passing game, Jaime Chapman scored the second hat-trick of the Titans' NRLW history and helped Gold Coast to an 18-12 lead after the break.
"She had a great game today," Murphy said of Chapman.
"She's a big game player so I probably thought she'd have that in her."
Gold Coast looked resolute enough defending their goal-line to ride their way to victory in the final 10 minutes.
That was before Upton clicked back into gear, just as she did to help the Knights score three tries in seven minutes before halftime.
First, she stepped past rival fullback Evania Pelite for a try that levelled the scores with 10 minutes to play.
Then, with the Knights appearing primed to attempt a game-winning field goal, Upton kicked down the right side on the last tackle, burst through the defensive line and past Chapman to ground the ball for the match-winning try.
The result closed the book on Gold Coast's finals fairytale.
After finishing last season at the bottom of the ladder, they stormed into the decider with an upset defeat of the Sydney Roosters.
But with the loss, they missed the chance to win the first premiership trophy in Gold Coast's sporting history.
"We're obviously really disappointed," said Murphy.
"We believed in ourselves. We didn't get the result today but I couldn't be prouder."
