Now that’s a f**king crowd! The Hunter deserves a bigger better stadium and I hope the knights packing it out regularly pushes the issue. Everyone likes to talk about Sydney stadiums but Newcastle deserves an upgrade before any of those suburban grounds IMO.
After the redevelopment of the Western Grandstand was complete shortly after the 2011 season commenced, the stadium capacity was initially 33k. The Australia vs New Zealand test match played after the Grand Final that year got 32890 (which is the official ground record to this day)
With the exception of a resurgence in form during the second half of 2013, the Knights' on-field performances were woeful during the remainder of the 2010s decade, so they were never going to threaten that ground record. However, for some unknown reason, the capacity was reduced from 33k to 30k, and it has been that way since at least since 2018, when the A-League Grand Final was played there (29410 was the attendance).
Like what the Cowboys did in 2022 when temporary seating was added for their home Preliminary Final vs Parramatta, you would think that the Knights would have temporary seating added to their ground if they were to host a Preliminary Final in the future. To keep the stadium capped at 30k is a joke, especially when they got a few 30k+ crowds back in the '90s when the old eastern hill was around.
30k+ would've definitely turned up for the finals match vs Canberra last year if it wasn't for the 30k capacity restriction