Newcastle veteran Danny Buderus claims the Knights have to set a new standard from which to work when they begin competition life under the coaching of Wayne Bennett on Thursday night.
Ahead of his first game in the red and blue since walking away from the club and the NRL in 2008, Buderus said it was vital the new-look Knights made a bold first impression against St George Illawarra in the season-opener at Hunter Stadium.
The Knights are among the favourites to take out this year’s title and, while there is little doubt their combinations will improve as the season progresses, a strong start against the Dragons will be the only way to keep the critics at bay.
“No doubt we’re going to get better, but we want to play as well as we can this first game,” Buderus said.
“We want to set a level and then be consistent and probably get better over the coming months.
“We’ve got to lay down a line and that’s on Thursday night.
“The team as it is is good on paper, but we haven’t done anything as a squad at the moment – we’re looking forward to putting in a good 80 minutes.”
The return of Buderus, after three years with Leeds, is one of a number of key additions to the squad.
Current and former Test representatives Darius Boyd, Kade Snowden and Timana Tahu have also bolstered a squad which scraped into last year’s finals, with critics adamant nothing less than a top-four finish will be considered a successful campaign.
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