Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien is yet to decide on the final make-up of his side for the season-opener in a fortnight, declaring Friday's trial against Parramatta a genuine audition for players across multiple positions.
The Knights return to Industree Group Stadium to face the Eels after suffering a 28-16 loss to Cronulla at the Gosford venue last Friday.
Eight players who didn't feature against the Sharks were named this week to play their first games of the year with the Knights set to start a full-strength side.
Utility forward Adam Elliott has withdrawn after rolling an ankle this week but the extended 13-man bench remains filled with talent who will be eyeing a spot in the season-opener.
Asked how close tonight's line-up is to the one he will pick for round one, O'Brien said yesterday the trial was "definitely" an audition for spots he is yet to decide on.
"The obvious ones are there but ... I want to have a team that's in-form, players that are in-form," he said.
"There's good competition for spots, so [the] trial period is an important part of that."
The coach didn't put a number on how many spots he was undecided on but nominated the edges as a highly competitive area.
"Out wide in the backs, we've got guys like Krystian Mapapalangi and Hymel Hunt. I thought Hymel was outstanding last week," he said. "He has had a really good pre-season Hymel, so there's good competition for spots on the wing, in the centres and certainly the halves.
"Tyson Gamble, Phoenix [Crossland], Kurt Mann - they're all utility players.
"We haven't been in that position, well certainly since I've been here, that we've got good depth in a number of positions."
Crossland and Gamble are likely fighting it out to be the bench utility for round one if Kurt Mann starts at lock.
"We're really fortunate there with Kurt and Phoenix, they can play multiple positions," O'Brien said. "He is just a competitor, Tyson. I don't think he cares what position [he plays] or what number is on his back, he just wants to be out there. I like them fellas."
O'Brien said his side needed to improve their ball-handling against the Eels after making 17 errors last week.
Jackson Hastings and Kalyn Ponga will start in the halves for the first time.
"Our completion rate was down around 45, 50 per cent," O'Brien said.
"We didn't make it easy on ourselves.
"Having said that, there's a lot of disjointedness. Some guys only trained a couple of days before.
"The first 20 minutes I thought we looked pretty powerful when the big boys were on there, so I'd like to see some more of that."
Newcastle's big-name players are expected to play significant portions of the match.
"We'll play decent minutes," O'Brien said.
"It's important ... not only from a conditioning point of view, but also connection."
Elliott, who joined Newcastle on a three-year deal, was held back from making his first start in a Knights jersey as a precaution.
"He stepped on one of his teammate's shoes during a drill and rolled it," O'Brien said of the forward's injured ankle.
"That's been really frustrating for Adam, but ... if it was a comp game playing for two points, he would play.
"It's just smart to let it heal so it's not there ongoing through the season if you play him too soon."
Neither team is competing to win the pre-season tournament and its $100,000 prize after losses last week, but O'Brien is expecting the intensity to rise from week one.
"It will step up a notch and I can tell from our training week that it has already stepped up a notch from last week's trial," he said.
O'Brien is pleased to be playing trials against sides that made the finals last year as preparation for his fourth season in charge.
"Both trials are good," he said.
"Last week both sides weren't at full strength but Cronulla, if you have a look at what Ftizy has managed to do there - I think they finished second in the regular season, so there's a good system that we played against.
"Last year's grand finalists [in Parramatta], Brad's had them for a long time now. They know they're footy, [and they're] well drilled.
"I couldn't ask for two better opponents to get us right for round one."
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