Newcastle Knights NRLW team eager to make history as players prepare for opening fixture

The Newcastle Knights NRLW team is yet to play a game, but the players are eager to build a positive culture that will breed long-term success.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2021 NRLW competition to be postponed, so the Knights have had to wait to field its inaugural team.

New Zealander Krystal Rota arrived in Newcastle this week for the start of training, ahead of the team's historic first game on February 27.

«I love the vibe around the girls and the positivity and the team culture, so I'm already loving it,» she said.

A number of Kiwis were part of the men's side when the club played in its first season in 1988.

Rota is one of nine New Zealanders in the women's team.

She said it's great that a Kiwi contingent will also help kickstart the women's side.

«It's a real honour to be in the inaugural Knights team and start that off again in the women's space,» she said.

«It's definitely exciting and I can say down the track, we were there at that time and we got to be part of an amazing club.»

While Rota is yet to pull on the red and blue, she wants to bring the squad together.

«I want to leave the impression that our team is united,» she said.

«I'm big on culture, I want people to remember us as the team that had unity and came together as one.»

Queenslander Romy Teitzel has relocated to Newcastle for a second time after last year's false start.

"[We've] just had to be flexible and work around it, things weren't ideal and obviously a lot of relocated players came down here and there were things we couldn't help," she said.

«With that came isolation, lockdown and then obviously some hotel quarantine to get home which is not ideal.

»But we're all back here and pretty eager and keen to get started."

As a new team in the NRLW competition