Rival players from St George Illawarra and Newcastle are playing down the Wayne Bennett factor as the build-up to Thursday night’s NRL season-opener began to take on State of Origin proportions.

Veterans from both sides admitted to a few nerves ahead of the blockbuster clash, which will pit Knights coach Bennett against the club he guided to a breakthrough title two years ago.

With the Dragons now under the control of Bennett’s former apprentice Steve Price and 12 members of that 2010 grand final winning side still at the club, Bennett will be all too aware of what he will come up against at Hunter Stadium.

But Dragons veteran Matt Cooper denied Bennett’s presence would play a large part in proceedings on the field, with the red and whites keen to show they’ve moved on from the Bennett era.

“I don’t think it will have a big influence on the players, we’re going out there worrying about our game and doing the things that we want to do,” Cooper said on Monday.

“For the fans and for everyone else in the game it’s pretty exciting knowing we’re going up against our old coach who was here for three years and we won a premiership with … us as players, we won’t think about that until after the match.”

While Cooper insists the Dragons aren’t worried about Bennett, he said there was an appreciation of the magnitude of the match.

“The butterflies are there,” Cooper said.

“It’s going to be a massive game – it’s got a bit of a State of Origin feel – everyone I speak to down the street is asking about it, a lot of people are going to be watching this game.”

Added Knights veteran Danny Buderus – who returns to Newcastle after three years with Leeds:

“All these guys, even myself, I’m thinking (of the) expectations, getting a little bit nervous.

“I’ve been focusing on this occasion for a long time, that’s probably got me through the off-season really.”

The expectations have grown since Bennett’s arrival, but Buderus played down the benefit of the super coach’s inside knowledge on Thursday night’s proceedings.

“Wayne’s siting up there (in the coaches’ box), he can tell us all the information but we’re the ones that have to do the job,” Buderus said.

“I’ve definitely picked up from Wayne that it’s all about us, it hasn’t been much about weaknesses and strengths, it’s more about what we can do as a group.”

Buderus denied the Dragons would be any easier a challenge without Bennett at the helm, going as far as to say his former charges may be an even tougher unit to crack.

“The grounding and the foundations that Wayne’s set there is obvious for everyone to see, nothing’s going to change much,” Buderus said.

“If anything, players get older, they develop more skill and a mindset so they’re going to be even stronger.”

Less than 6000 tickets remain for the opening game of the season, with Knights officials confident of a sellout crowd.