Mitchell Pearce completed a dream debut for Newcastle, kicking his team to a thrilling 19-18 golden-point victory over Manly in his first game for the club.
After teenage superstar Kalyn Ponga lit McDonald Jones Stadium alight in both attack and defence, Pearce nailed a 20-metre field goal in the penultimate minute of extra time to kick-start the club's new era.
Pearce and Manly half Daly Cherry-Evans both missed chances earlier in extra-time, but it was the NSW State of Origin No.7 who sent the Knights' biggest home crowd since 2015 into delirium.
"It's a special feeling," Pearce, who was approached by Manly in the off-season, said.
"You can't hide away from it ... there's been so many of us who have come to the club and been welcomed.
"I knew it was going to be a tight game ... to start the season in that way is special for sure."
The Knights earlier looked to have victory secure in normal time before Cherry-Evans kicked a 39-metre penalty goal in the dying minutes to send the game to golden point.
While Pearce was the eventual hero, 19-year-old Ponga's performance will be the one that has Knights fans dreaming of long-term success after three consecutive wooden spoons.
The recruit scored the Knights' first try of the match when he broke through three Manly defenders to cross in front of 23,516 fans.
He also put in two certain try-savers on both Manly wingers in the second half, just as the Sea Eagles threatened to take control of the match away from Nathan Brown's team.
"There's been a lot of talk about Kalyn," Brown said.
"To score a try and kick three-from-three in his first game for a 19-year-old kid who has had more hype than most players have ever had, I think it's fair to say he's done a pretty good job for us."
In a see-sawing battle, neither team got more than one try ahead after Manly responded to Ponga and Griffin's tries through points of their own to Jorge Taufua and Shaun Lane.
Manly then took the lead through Brian Kelly midway through the second half, only for Watson to put Lachlan Fitzgibbon over on the left edge to put Newcastle up 18-16.
However Fitzgibbon became the villain when he was called offside from a charged down Mitchell Pearce kick just before full-time, allowing Cherry-Evans to level the scores at 18-18 and send it to golden point.
"I'm not walking out of here ashamed, definitely not," Manly coach Trent Barrett said.
"No dramas from our end, we could have easily won that game but for a lack of holding the ball."
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