Jake Clifford will have No.6 on his back when he runs out for Newcastle on Saturday against the Warriors.
But for his new halves partner Mitchell Pearce, he'll actually be No.9.
In a telling stat heading into Pearce's 64th game for the Knights since he joined the club in 2018, he is about to share the playmaking duties with his ninth halves partner.
In simple mathematical terms, that's an average of a new five-eighth every eight games.
Obviously, the reality is a little different. The breakdown looks like this: Kurt Mann [21 games], Mason Lino [16], Connor Watson [9], Jack Cogger [5], Brock Lamb and Kalyn Ponga [4], Blake Green [2] and Phoenix Crossland [1].
Just how costly has the lack of urgency been from the club in signing a specialist five-eighth during that period is difficult to quantify. But recruitment boss Clint Zammit recognised it pretty quickly when he came on board at the back end of last season. Which is why he went after the 23-year-old Cowboy.
And the early signs with Clifford in his two games in Knights colours since being released by the North Queensland Cowboys suggest the Knights may have finally righted the wrong.
After only a couple of training sessions together, coach Adam O'Brien believes the club may well have finally come up with the perfect foil in Clifford for his veteran halfback Pearce.
"It's early days but I'm excited by it," O'Brien said. "I don't expect them to fit like a glove with each other straight away. But I like the feel of them together."
And it's not just at training where O'Brien has noticed a connection.
"They click well off the field too," he said. "They are both footy nuts who enjoy each other's company and love talking about the game.
"But importantly, the thing I am really confident about is I haven't got two bulls in the one paddock.
"They know each other's strengths and they'll share that. One will compliment the other which is what I'm really excited about."
While the experience of Pearce and the intensity and energy he brings to the table will improve Clifford as a player, O'Brien believes Pearce will benefit from having an organiser alongside him with a booming kicking game that will take a lot of pressure off and give opposition defences another focal point to deal with.
"Junior [Pearce] can play his eyes up footy and just play instinctively a lot more because he knows he's got someone that can look after not just the kicking but even on shapes and plays, Jake can take some of the load there," O'Brien said.
"Junior can be that high energy half and know that even if he gets tackled, that something is going to be organised after he plays the ball. And that's the thing, when you are picking two guys that have grown up playing in the halves since they were 5 or 6, that's what you get rather than guys that you are throwing in there because they are competitors.
"The really good thing is they are both good ball-players but they are also both really good runners of the footy."
And the difference it will make? We are about to find out.
