Former Knights captain Kurt Gidley has been watching with interest and likes what he sees from the current Newcastle crop, who have scored the most points so far this season.
Before round five kicked off, the unbeaten Knights topped the attack charts with 110 putting them one clear of two-time defending Sydney Roosters (109) and three ahead of NRL leaders Parramatta (107).
Gidley, who played 251 games for the Knights between 2001 and 2015, has gathered with fellow club "old boys" the last two weekends to witness Newcastle defeat last year's grand finalists Canberra (34-18) and come back to split the competition points with Penrith (14-all).
"As a former player and supporter of the club it has been good to watch," Gidley said. "I think having KP [Kalyn Ponga] back and Mitchell Pearce playing 80 minutes again, those two guys give the team a lot of confidence and belief."
Gidley noted the Pearce-Ponga combination being particularly effective down the left edge and knows Craig Bellamy, coach of Saturday's opponents Melbourne, would have done some homework.
"The combination of Mitch, Kalyn, Bradman [Best] and Edrick [Lee] is pretty potent," he said.
"No doubt Craig Bellamy has watched the tapes and will have something ready to combat that."
The former NSW and Australian representative said that building rhythm in attack was "something that takes time, but when the feeling is there it can be hard to break."
Newcastle's defence is ranked equal fifth, alongside the Panthers at 56 conceded, after the opening four encounters.
The Knights, who are second next to Penrith on the ladder with seven points, have the third best for-and-against record at plus 54. Only the Eels (+77) and Roosters (+68) are in front.
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