Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett pinpointed his side’s last meeting with Melbourne as the turning point in the Knights’ NRL season – now the rematch presents an opportunity to go to the next level.
Newcastle pushed the Storm all the way before eventually going down at AAMI Park in round 14, but have lost just once since – a 28-12 loss to Sydney Roosters three weeks ago.
The run has propelled the Knights into the top eight, but the loss to the Roosters maintained their record of not being able to beat a top four side in 2013.
Melbourne’s visit to Hunter Stadium on Sunday is the Knights’ last chance to beat a top four outfit in the regular season, with Newcastle back-rower Robbie Rochow admitting his side gained a lot of belief out of the last meeting between the two sides.
“I got a bit of confidence knowing that when they come up here we’re a good chance of beating them,” Rochow said of taking on his former club.
“That was probably our toughest game of the year so far and I’m expecting it again on Sunday.”
The Storm have seemingly rediscovered their mojo in recent weeks, with the record-breaking flogging of Canberra followed up by an impressive home win over South Sydney.
It has rekindled memories of the Storm’s recovery from a similar post-Origin slide last year to win the premiership, but back-rower Ryan Hoffman said the similarities only went so far.
“I know we had a lull this year after Origin like we did last year but it hasn’t really been spoken about as a group and doesn’t really feel the same,” Hoffman said.
“We still know we’ve got a lot of improving to do and it’s a much younger squad this year than we had.
“We want to build and time our run and be somewhere near our peak come the start of the finals.
“They’re trying to gather some momentum heading into the finals.
“They’re obviously trying to cement their finals spot and the way that they’re playing they certainly can do it.”
Centre Maurice Blair – who suffered a neck injury against the Raiders a fortnight ago – emerged unscathed following Saturday’s training session, with coach Craig Bellamy likely to wait until an hour before kick-off whether he or winger Mahe Fonua makes the final 17-man squad.
