Newcastle Knights lock Mat Croker has provided a telling insight into the hostile environment at Eden Park in the semi-final against the New Zealand Warriors.
The sudden-death fixture re-wrote history as the highest attended NRL match in New Zealand, with just-short of 50,000 fans flocking into the country's premier stadium following increased demand from the Warriors faithful.
The crowd support was so unbelievably one-sided Croker compared the Knights' thrilling victory to a match during the COVID-19 era, where games were played behind locked doors with no attendance in 2020.
It was an eerie and uncanny sensation for viewers on television, who could hear so much more going on during the match without the screaming fans.
Made all the more peculiar with cut-out fans taking the place of their real-life counterparts.
Every time the Knights conjured something great during Sunday's encounter, Croker was immediately drawn back to earlier times.
"So there was 50,000 there, and it felt like back in Covid when there was nobody there," Croker said on Triple M Newcastle.
"That's what it felt like, remember back in Covid days, when there was absolutely no supporters in the stands and they'd score and you'd just hear nothing?
"That's what it would feel like for us."
Croker recounted the ecstatic moment Newcastle triumphed after 80-minutes against the Warriors, with zero noise from the heavily favoured Warriors faithful.
"So we scored, or forced an error, or even when full-time hit, I looked at Ashley Klein when he blew full-time, so I knew the game was finished and there was just nothing," he added.
"All you could hear was us 17 boys cheering and a couple of the coaches on the sideline like Bedsy (Danny Buderus) and stuff.
"There were about 150 Knights people, because it's an oval they were a bit far away from the field.
"We went over and made sure to celebrate with them afterwards. They were so pumped.
"Other than that, it was about 49,000 screaming New Zealanders, it was so bizarre.
"Even my beautiful partner was there, and even she said she didn't know what was going on when we scored... It was such a bizarre feeling."
The Knights progress into Week 3 of the finals, and find themselves face-to-face with Penrith, who yield some of the greatest finals experience in the NRL.
Despite the Panthers' decorated finals history, the Knights are hoping to create their own slice of "Covid" match magic after dominating ticket sales so far for the encounter in Sydney.
The Novocastrians are responsible for two-thirds of the total ticket sales and is expecting to rise, with busloads of fans making the trip south to re-create the hostile arena set on them by the Warriors last week in Auckland.
To add more intrigue to the Knights' chances of pushing for a Grand Final berth, an injury cloud has followed Nathan Cleary after the Panthers confirmed he sustained a stress-related bone issue in his foot coming out of Week 1 of the finals.
The Knights will travel to Sydney to face the Panthers on Sunday at 4:05pm for a spot in the big dance.
