It was a win that will silence the doubting voices.
There'll be no admission of course but some of them even in the heads of the players themselves before the game.
There was no Kalyn Ponga, no Blake Green, no Lachlan Fitzgibbon and no Edrick Lee against the Bulldogs last night.
Many thought the Knights could be vulnerable against their bogey side, who had beaten Newcastle in eight of their last nine games.
Just to really heighten the nerves, the Knights conceded early, a soft try with their left edge defence caught embarrassingly short by a looping Kyle Flanagan cut-out pass.
Then Kurt Mann limped off after just 28 minutes with the home side side trailing 10-8. The pressure was on.
But Newcastle's big names, led by Origin prop Daniel Saifiti stood tall. Saifiti was playing his 100th NRL game and had never captained a side in his life before last night.
He ran out onto McDonald Jones Stadium in front of the rest of his teammates like he owned the joint. He didn't disappoint.
Two tries in his milestone game for his club - what a memory to tell the grandkids some day.
His frontrow partner Davd Klemmer stood shoulder to shoulder with him, a herculean 74 minutes that produced over 200 metres and 33 tackles.
Then there were backrowers Tyson Frizell and Mitch Barnett. Frizell was enormous in his debut for the club and proved in 80 minutes what we all suspected - a change of scenery at a new club would reinvigorate him.
Not to be out-done, Barnett was equally as strong on the left edge and finished the game with 16 points from a try and six goals from seven attempts.
Not bad for a second-string kicker who nobody thought would be handed the gig.
Then there was the great contribution from Saifiti's co-captain Jayden Brailey from hooker. His passing was crisp, his options first-class and when his big men took charge and opened up the middle, he didn't miss the opportunity to make a dart himself.
His performance was everything the Knights so sadly missed last season.
Mitchell Pearce was another to answer plenty of questions on the night.
After a tumultuous pre-season off the field with his private life making headline after headline, just what frame of mind was the veteran No.7 going to be in.
We waited just nine minutes to find out. That was when he found Daniel Saifiti with a sublime short ball that totally fooled Bulldogs forward Adam Elliott for the Knights opening try.
He came up with another for Bradman Best to storm over in the second half. Yes, there was the odd defensive mistake but Pearce showed his head was exactly where it needs to be when the whistle blows time on.
By no means was the 32-16 result a great win. The Knights had some defensive lapses of their own and enjoyed plenty of possession.
But it will give the side something that it has lacked in the past - belief. To get the job done in emphatic fashion without Ponga and Green in particular, augurs well for what the side will deliver when they are both back.
