For a moment, Kalyn Ponga made Newcastle believe the fairytale had one more chapter.
A loose Roosters tap-back, a burst into open space and a sprint almost the length of the field. Suddenly, the Knights led 12-0 and a city that had waited 25 years for another grand final could begin to imagine the ultimate reward.
Instead, Newcastle were left to contemplate how close they had come.
The Sydney Roosters' 19-18 victory delivered the premiership farewell Daly Cherry-Evans had chased, while leaving the Knights one point short of completing their remarkable transformation.
Yet the explanation for Newcastle's heartbreak lay well before the final frantic minutes. Their early lead had concealed a problem that became increasingly difficult to escape: they were spending too much of the decider defending.
The Knights had the moments. The Roosters kept making them work.
Francis Manuleleua's opening try showed the value of Newcastle's willingness to attack, with Fletcher Sharpe finding his backrower on a strong line. Ponga then supplied the kind of individual intervention capable of defining a Grand Final.
His long range try was particularly extraordinary because of the work that preceded it. The Knights captain was repeatedly involved, covering threats behind his defensive line while remaining central to Newcastle's attack.
But even Ponga could not keep turning survival into points.
At halftime, Newcastle led 12-6 despite making 35 more tackles. Sydney had enjoyed 57% of possession and completed 21 of 23 sets. That disparity mattered more than the Knights' advantage suggested.
Every defensive stand bought Newcastle another chance. Too few of those chances bought their defenders a rest.
The Roosters' territorial pressure meant the Knights repeatedly had to begin again from deep inside their own half. Defusing a kick or stopping a raid was only the first part of the task; finding enough ground to change the next possession was just as important.
Sydney's work through the middle made that difficult. As the match wore on, Newcastle's attempts to shift the ball carried an increasing risk: an error would surrender possession before they had escaped trouble.
This was the tension at the heart of the contest. The Knights needed the ball to relieve the pressure, but the pressure was making it harder to use the ball effectively.
Billy Smith's second half try drew Sydney level. Mark Nawaqanitawase, whose improvised finish had brought the Roosters back into the match before halftime, later completed his double.
Newcastle's resistance had kept the contest alive. Sydney's persistence had changed who controlled it.
Then came Cherry-Evans' field goal.
The veteran's strike pushed the margin beyond a converted try, a decision whose value became clear when Greg Marzhew's late score brought Newcastle back within one point.
For all the attacking talent around him, this was the contribution the Roosters had recruited Cherry-Evans to provide - recognising what the game required and delivering it.
At 37, in his final NRL appearance before joining Hull FC, he finished with a second premiership, 15 years after his first with Manly.
Ahead of the decider, Cherry-Evans had explained how experience had changed his approach.
"I'm obviously more mature, so I have a better understanding of what the team needs," he told the media.
His farewell also gave the result an extra layer of significance. Sandon Smith had left the Roosters following Cherry-Evans' arrival, finding an opportunity in Newcastle that developed into a central role in their premiership push.
The Knights' season had demonstrated how much a fresh opportunity could unlock. Smith, Sharpe and Ponga gave Newcastle a combination capable of troubling opponents in different ways, even after Dylan Brown's ACL injury forced another adjustment.
That progress will matter once the immediate disappointment fades.
Justin Holbrook's side reached the decider through sudden-death victories over South Sydney, the Warriors and Penrith. Their run demanded belief as well as execution, and neither disappeared when the grand final began to turn against them.
Their late response ensured Sydney had to finish the job.
But Newcastle could not quite turn that refusal to surrender into one final escape.
For the Roosters, experience helped deliver the ending they wanted. For the Knights, the cruelty was in getting close enough to see theirs.
A season that restored Newcastle's belief ended with a premiership one point beyond reach.