Knights veteran Dane Gagai says Newcastle's inspiring win over Melbourne will "count for nothing" if they can't back it up against the Raiders in Canberra on Saturday.
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Now placed 10th just a point outside the top eight, the Knights have rocketed back into finals contention after wins over the Bulldogs, Tigers and Storm.
After breaking an 11-game losing streak against their latest scalp Melbourne on Saturday, confidence amongst the playing group is high and the team's steely performance has duly received plenty of praise.
But Gagai, Newcastle's most experienced player who has featured in five finals series in 12 NRL campaigns, knows the Knights can ill afford to get ahead of themselves.
Borrowing a phrase from his former Knights and Rabbitohs mentor Wayne Bennett on Tuesday, he said the players mustn't buy into any hype around their recent form.
"To be fair, I don't really notice what goes on outside of what we do here," the 261-game centre said.
"Obviously there's going to be weeks where you're getting a lot of praise, and that's all good.
"But ... Wayne always said: 'If you pat yourself on the back too much, you'll fall asleep'.
"It's always nice that we can do that for the fans, but we'll just focus on what we're doing.
"It was good to get the win, but that doesn't count for nothing if we don't go out and put in a performance against the Raiders."
Canberra, after their 21-20 loss to the Warriors on Friday, have fallen out of the top four to fifth but remain equal with the Storm (fourth) and Warriors (third) on 28 competition points.
The Knights are five points behind but a victory could lift them into the top eight dependent on other results this round.
If they are to win a fourth-straight game, they will have to do it without Daniel Saifiti after the prop was ruled out of the GIO Stadium clash.
The 27-year-old further strained a quad injury he carried into the Storm match and is now facing multiple weeks on the sidelines.
Given Newcastle's following fixture is in Perth, part of a double-header against the Dolphins, he appears long odds to feature in the next two games.
"He's too tough for his own good. He played through a quad strain last week at training but didn't pull up sweet," Saifiti's brother Jacob said on Tuesday.
"He should be back up for selection in the next couple of weeks."
Knights halfback Jackson Hastings pulled no punches about Saturday's fixture, labelling it "the most important game of our season".
"Although we've played well over the past month, and we've had some good results, if we don't focus on the task at hand ... we're going to get embarrassed," Hastings said, speaking on SEN 1170.
"We're playing a really good footy side.
"Ricky has got them playing a really tough brand of football. They're really, really good at home - they obviously get the viking clap and the fans behind them too. It's going to be a hostile environment.
"This is a must-win if we want to do anything with our season."
Newcastle beat the Raiders 24-14 at McDonald Jones Stadium in round four, but haven't won in Canberra since 2018.
They were beaten 20-18 in a nail-biter last season in their only loss under coach Adam O'Brien in the nation's capital.
In the two other away games they've played against the Raiders during O'Brien's tenure, Newcastle won 34-18 at Campbelltown in 2020 and 24-16 at Wagga in 2021.
The Raiders named an unchanged on Tuesday from their loss to the Warriors last week.
Knights starting side (vs Raiders)
1. Kalyn Ponga (C)
2. Dominic Young
3. Dane Gagai
4. Bradman Best
5. Greg Marzhew
6. Tyson Gamble
7. Jackson Hastings
8. Jacob Saifiti
9. Phoenix Crossland
10. Leo Thompson
11. Tyson Frizell (C)
12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
13. Adam Elliott
Interchange
14. Kurt Mann
15. Brodie Jones
16. Jack Hetherington
17. Mat Croker
Extended match squad
18. Dylan Lucas
19. Enari Tuala
20. Simi Sasagi
21. Lachlan Miller
22. Adam Clune
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