Thousands of Knights supporters had lined a Newcastle road to cheer the bus carrying players to Olympic Park ahead of Sunday's game. [E3] NSW Ambulance said several people were injured after a car hit the crowd that morning. [E1]
NSW Police said the driver had been arrested at the scene and that people had been taken to John Hunter Hospital. [E2]
The Newcastle Knights bus was diverted via an alternate route, and the team has left Newcastle ahead of the grand final in Sydney on Sunday. [E4]
A send-off works by putting people in the team's path so they can be seen as it goes. That is how a farewell becomes a crowd standing in a road. Police said the crash was not a targeted attack. [E3] A car can strike any group standing together, and the Knights may only be why those people had assembled. A later police finding that the crash was targeted would break that reading.