Pathway to heaven: McArthur's moment to savour despite defeat

This milestone mattered much more than the result. 

Emily McArthur etched her name into Newcastle’s NRLW history books on Saturday when she became the first Knights player to make her debut having taken every step along the club’s development pathway. 

The 18-year-old South Newcastle utility forward, who represented NSW under 19s earlier this year, began her Knights career in the Lisa Fiaola Cup (under 17s). 

She has since progressed to Tarsha Gale Cup (under 19s) and NSW Women’s Premiership, then on Saturday, in front of family, friends and teammates wearing celebratory T-shirts and waving giant masks of her face, made her first appearance on the NRLW stage. 

The Knights twice recovered from 20-point deficits only to fall 27-26 to Wests Tigers courtesy of a Raecene McGregor two minutes from full-time, but McArthur could still manage a smile when she spoke to NRL.com after the game. 

“It was amazing,” McArthur said. 

“It was just good to have all of my school friends, footy friends, just all my family there supporting me – all those who’ve backed me the whole way since I first started. 

“Yeah, it was good to have an amazing milestone reached with a lot of my teammates that I played Tarsha [Gale] with. 

“I tried to make it as normal as possible. I just tried not to think about it. I let myself have today to get a bit nervous, but yeah, I just sort of tried to keep my cool and stick to what I know and what’s worked for me thus far, and yeah, just tried to be as normal as I could.” 

McArthur came off the bench and played 48 minutes in two stints, getting heavily involved on both sides of the ball. She ran 13 times for 100 metres, broke a tackle, was involved in the lead-up to Sidney Taylor’s 47th minute try, and made 26 tackles with only one miss. 

“Personally, I was happy with how I performed and I was just happy that I could show up for my teammates in any way that I could,” McArthur said. 

“Yeah, happy with my carries, and I just did my role the best that I could. It was unfortunate to get the loss, but I’m sure I’ll have many more wins with the girls in the future.” 

McArthur thanked Knights coach Ben Jeffries and her teammates for having faith in her and hoped she could inspire other girls to follow her down Newcastle’s development pathway. 

“It’s definitely so special, just seeing where I started and who was there with me when I first started, and it’s great to see that there’s actually the pathway there for the girls to progress through each stage,” she said. 

“It was never there before and yeah, it was pretty cool that I got to be the first one to do it. 

“I didn’t think it was going to be this year that I would debut, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity that ‘BJ’ has given me and the girls have given me, and just grateful that I can live out my childhood dream with the best team.” 

Nineteen-year-old dummy-half Charley Lahmert also made her NRLW debut against Wests Tigers, coming off the bench and making an impact in Newcastle’s second-half comeback. 

“One positive is those two debutantes were outstanding,” Jeffries said. 

“Their attention to detail, for 18- and 19-year-old females, was outstanding. 

“Just how they are as people, and how they live and breathe our values, and how they played today is an exception to themselves, first and foremost, the staff that’s prepped them, and obviously their families. 

“They would be so proud of them, which we all are, from a club’s point of view, and a head coach point of view – 100 per cent, they were outstanding. They properly did their job.” 

Jeffries said McArthur’s milestone was something to celebrate, despite the agonising loss on the club’s Old Boys’ Day that has left the Knights in danger of missing the NRLW finals for the first time in five years. 

“She’s gone from Lisa Fiaola all the way through Tarsha Gale, NSW Women’s Premiership, now straight into NRLW, and she did not look out of place,” Jeffries said. 

“You know what? They’re just competitors, and this is what we were looking for today – people that had desire, energy, passion, and, being on Old Boys’ Day as well, to compete.” 

Knights captain Kayla Romaniuk praised McArthur and Lahmert for not shirking their responsibilities while playing their roles against experienced opponents. 

“They were amazing, to be fair,” Romaniuk said. 

“That was a very physical game and they’re both in the middle. They held their own, they both played big minutes, so yeah, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. 

“I’m so proud of them, to make their debut at home, I just wish that we would have got the win for them. That was a bit disappointing. 

“Lisa Fiaola [Cup] definitely wasn’t there when I was coming through, so to see Emily be the first player to go through Lisa Fiaola then Tarsha Gale, and all the way through, it’s a credit to the club. 

“But also like ‘BJ’ said, it’s a credit to her and sticking in those programs for so long, so to see her come through and have that debut, yeah, the sky’s the limit for her.”