Canberra legend Laurie Daley believes the wait for long-suffering Newcastle fans will end this season with the former Test captain tipping the Knights to finally break their six-year finals drought under rookie coach Adam O'Brien.
The Knights kick off their 2020 campaign under O'Brien against the Warriors at McDonald Jones Stadium tomorrow, carrying the weight of expectation from a fan-base desperately craving success.
Daley, for one, believes the Knights' time to emerge from the doldrums has arrived. Their last appearance in the finals was in 2013 under former coach Wayne Bennett.
In his new weekly column appearing in today's Newcastle Herald, Daley has tipped the Knights to finish eighth with last year's grand finalists Canberra and the Sydney Roosters to again fight it out for the title with the Raiders to triumph.
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He has tipped South Sydney, Parramatta, Manly, Melbourne and the North Queensland Cowboys to all feature in the play-offs.
On Newcastle's chances, Daley writes: "The Knights have a new coach in Adam O'Brien and everything I am hearing out of Newcastle is positive about how well they have trained, how hard they have trained and how well prepared they are.
"All the off-season talk has been around the squad being tougher mentally with a harder edge, particularly in defence. If they get that right, they are going to be up there.
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"They have promised plenty over the past 18 months but haven't delivered but I think that is about to change."
Daley pin-points skipper Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga as the keys to the Knights' hopes
"I think Ponga will have a big season," he said.
The Knights will round out their preparations today for the Warriors clash and barring any late mishaps, their selected squad will take the field. Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck remains under an injury cloud for the Warriors.
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