Oct 2, 2026 · 5 min · 3 segments
What can property investors, business owners and wealth builders learn from the Newcastle Knights? A lot. Twelve months ago, the Knights finished with the wooden spoon. Now they are Grand Finalists…
Tom HaighHost
I think what it makes it so powerful isn't just that the Knights are in the grand final, it's where they've come from.

And what I found most interesting isn't necessarily the football, it's the shift in belief.

Because somewhere along the way, the group stopped thinking about what everyone else thought they were capable of and started believing in what they were capable of themselves.

He came into a club that had just finished last, and from preseason there was a belief inside the group that they could do something different this year.

Holbrook has spoken about that confidence being there from November, long before anyone outside the club was talking about a grand final.

And that's the bit that really interests me, because I think this applies to far more than rugby league.

It applies to business, it applies to investing, it applies to your career, to your family, and to your life in general.

There is an enormous difference between hoping you can become something and believing you are capable of becoming it, and then importantly, doing the work required to make that belief a reality.

They worked, they changed the environment, they built connection, they brought in new people, developed young players, and ultimately created a different culture.

And one of the things that has struck me throughout these finals is how many people in Newcastle seem genuinely proud of the players.

They're proud because they're watching people exceed an expectation that they had placed on them.

It gives us these very visible examples of something that happens quietly in the rest of our lives.

You could spend years being told what you're capable of by your industry, your boss, your competitors, by your circumstances, some- sometimes even by yourself, and then something changes.

You get a different coach, a different perspective, a different environment, or perhaps even a different group of people around you.

And suddenly you start performing at a level that perhaps was always there, you just hadn't un- unlocked it yet.

I was thinking about this last week in particular because we cel- celebrated 10 years of Groundswell.

I think what it makes it so powerful isn't just that the Knights are in the grand final, it's where they've come from.

And what I found most interesting isn't necessarily the football, it's the shift in belief.

Because somewhere along the way, the group stopped thinking about what everyone else thought they were capable of and started believing in what they were capable of themselves.

He came into a club that had just finished last, and from preseason there was a belief inside the group that they could do something different this year.

Holbrook has spoken about that confidence being there from November, long before anyone outside the club was talking about a grand final.

And that's the bit that really interests me, because I think this applies to far more than rugby league.

It applies to business, it applies to investing, it applies to your career, to your family, and to your life in general.

There is an enormous difference between hoping you can become something and believing you are capable of becoming it, and then importantly, doing the work required to make that belief a reality.

They worked, they changed the environment, they built connection, they brought in new people, developed young players, and ultimately created a different culture.

And one of the things that has struck me throughout these finals is how many people in Newcastle seem genuinely proud of the players.

They're proud because they're watching people exceed an expectation that they had placed on them.

It gives us these very visible examples of something that happens quietly in the rest of our lives.

You could spend years being told what you're capable of by your industry, your boss, your competitors, by your circumstances, some- sometimes even by yourself, and then something changes.

You get a different coach, a different perspective, a different environment, or perhaps even a different group of people around you.

And suddenly you start performing at a level that perhaps was always there, you just hadn't un- unlocked it yet.

I was thinking about this last week in particular because we cel- celebrated 10 years of Groundswell.
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