KNIGHTS coach Adam O'Brien is unconcerned about the return of Brisbane enforcer Tevita Pangai Jnr in Thursday night's showdown at Central Coast Stadium, insisting Newcastle's sole focus this week has been on themselves.
O'Brien said he learned a valuable lesson from last week's 26-12 loss to Melbourne when, with the benefit of hindsight, he admitted to being preoccupied with dissecting the opposition.
That culminated in Newcastle's first loss in five games this season, after they allowed the Storm to grab the initiative early and race to an 18-0 lead.
After returning to the drawing board, the rookie tactician was confident the Knights would give a better account of themselves against a Brisbane team who are sure to be desperate after three successive defeats.
"After last week, everything's about us," O'Brien said. "I'm not worried about who we're playing.
"If I'm really honest with you, I probably did that myself too much last week, so I don't care who they've got in the team this week.
"I want to get us right."
Pangai Jnr has missed the past four games through suspension after a dangerous-contact tackle against North Queensland in round one, and the Newcastle junior has been banned for a total of 12 weeks for illegal play since the start of last season.
Brisbane have won only two of those 12 games, so his inclusion will provide them with a huge confidence boost. Moreover, the return from injury of skipper Alex Glenn, and the inclusion of new signing Ben Te'o, will provide Payne Haas and Matthew Lodge with valuable support up front.
Their clash with Newcastle's in-form middle forwards - David Klemmer, Daniel and Jacob Saifiti, Herman Ese'ese and Tim Glasby - is likely to determine which team banks two competition points.
O'Brien said he had spoken to his players "at length" about starting the game on the front foot, although he acknowledged Brisbane would be intent on doing likewise.
"I'd anticipate the other team saying the same thing," he said. "They want to start fast. We want to start fast.
"We're certainly looking for some energy early on."
Adding to the intrigue was the email sent to all coaches this week by NRL head of football Graeme Annesley, warning that the sin-bin would be enforced if teams continued to flout the rules.
O'Brien was confident his players would not be adversely affected because they had conceded far fewer set re-starts than most of their rivals.
"I got it [the email] last night and these fellas [Newcastle's players] haven't heard anything about it," he said.
"I'll address it in our team meeting this afternoon, but we're the team that's given the least amount of repeats away, I think.
"You might need to fact check me, but we're very close to giving the least away.
"I think we're pretty compliant, so I'm not overly concerned about it. I just want us to go our and perform like I know we can."
O'Brien said it was important that the Knights, bolstered by the return of strike back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon from a hamstring injury, rediscovered the form they showed against Penrith and Canberra in the first two games after the coronavirus hiatus.
"It's important that we do bounce back and improve in the areas we're looking at, win, lose or draw," he said.
"We're always looking to get better ... regardless of result, we want to keep improving every day."
