I cannot wait to run onto McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Neither can the rest of the boys.
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The move to Queensland for the back half of last season allowed the competition to continue, and it also had its benefits for us as a team as well, but it has been too long since we've played at home.
Our fans have been starved of footy, of watching us play.
A lot of them travelled down last week to the Roosters game and I think we heard them more than the Roosters supporters. That's how good they are to us and we want to repay them.
We know they're going to come out on Sunday arvo and it's the first opportunity to make them proud.
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It's also Jacob Saifiti's 100th NRL game, so it's a big occasion for us.
Everyone is excited, and I'm sure the fans are as well.
It was different playing in Queensland last year. The first couple of weeks there were no fans, but they eventually filtered in. But for us, it probably saved our season going up there. Just bunking down and getting amongst each other. We got real connected and that's taken off into the preseason. There's a good vibe around the club.
I feel like that showed in our first game and also in the trials.
Against the Bulldogs, a New-cas-tle chant went up in that second half. We loved that.
The young blokes that haven't experienced that before, that's probably what got them through that tough little period.
They defended a couple of sets in a row and when your heart-rate is going through the roof and you hear that, it makes you fight.
In my first year with the Knights in 2019, we won four games in a row and then played the Roosters at home.
It was a packed house, Friday night footy. The way the town got around us that night, it was electrifying.
That's probably the best moment at the club I've had.
The guys that haven't played at home before, blokes like Adam Clune and Leo Thompson, they're pumped to experience it.
And they're going to enjoy it. When the stadium is roaring, it's a different feeling.
We had a good first-up win against the Roosters last week, but we've got to keep trying to match that each week now.
We can't have dips like a roller coaster this season. We want to try and be as consistent as we can.
The Tigers were hard games last year. We were in the fight but cost ourselves. We let two wins get away from us.
We can't let that happen this week. We're playing for the Allan McMahon Shield, as well. It's something we want to pride ourselves on and win back.
I didn't see much of the Tigers' game against the Storm, but they're a different outfit this year.
They've got some quality recruits in Jackson Hastings and Oliver Gildart, and the back-rowers and outside backs are pretty handy. They are a good team.
If we respect them as a footy side, we will be right.
