Campo's Corner: Unheralded dummy half Chris Randall explains the Newcastle Knights' unexpected revival

The Knights were not supposed to be on top of the table at any point of the 2022 season, until they were.

They were supposed to be bottom-ladder fodder, wooden-spoon material, an afterthought on a good day and not thought of at all on a bad one, until they weren't.

Likewise, Knights hooker Chris Randall was never supposed to play first grade at all, until he did.

Randall's rise to the big time is like something out of a Newcastle supporter's fan fiction, which makes sense because Randall himself was born and raised as one of those fans.

He wasn't quite dragged out of the mines and thrown into a Knights jersey with the coal dust still on him, but that's not far off the truth.

Playing in the NRL was a childhood ambition for Randall in the same way other boys dreamt of being an astronaut — it wasn't something he ever really thought was going to happen.

«I didn't really play any junior reps. I didn't get in the system until I was 22. That's when I played my first game in Cup,» he said.

«I never played 20s or SG Ball or anything like that. I probably wasn't good enough. I was a late developer.

»I made my first-grade debut for Lakes when I was 18 and played some solid footy for them, and I made a few Newcastle rep teams here and there, but other than that I was never in the system.

«I'm just grateful I got noticed. They brought me in to do a part-time NSW Cup pre-season and I just wanted to make the most of it and it's worked out.

»The NRL wasn't on my radar at all. I was 21, playing some good footy for Lakes, but my ambition was to play good for Lakes, win a few premierships for Lakes.

«All my mates are from out that way, I'm from out that way, and it was a buzz just to play first grade for Lakes.

»I was just thinking I'd play as many