Revitalised Knights earn praise from Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo

In round 14 last year, Ciraldo arrived at McDonald Jones Stadium as caretaker coach of the mighty Penrith Panthers, in the absence of Ivan Cleary for health reasons.

The reigning premiers proceeded to dismantle the home side 42-6 without even looking like they would break sweat, and another gold star was stamped on Ciraldo's CV, which was already attracting plenty of admirers at rival clubs.

The result piled more pressure on his opposite number and close mate, Adam O'Brien, as it followed Newcastle's preceding hammerings on home turf from Parramatta (39-2), Melbourne (50-2) and Brisbane (36-12).

Fast-forward 14 months to last Sunday, at the same venue, and the roles were reversed in a weird, trading-places scenario.

Ciraldo returned as coach of struggling Canterbury, who only last month copped a 66-0 hammering from the Knights in their own backyard.

This time the score, for Ciraldo, was a mirror image of last year - 42-6 - and while disappointed with his own team's performance, he was impressed with the opposition, whose six-game winning streak kicked off against the Bulldogs on July 2.

"Clearly they're a good team," Ciraldo said of Newcastle.

"I thought they played well. They were dangerous with the ball, they've got some good power coming out the back of the field.

"Their wingers carry the ball strong, and they've got a marquee player in Kalyn Ponga who's in great form.

"Hopefully their injuries are all right and they give it a good crack at the end of the year, because they're a well-drilled side, and they're playing for each other with great energy. Well done to them."

Ciraldo's first season as a full-time head coach has been a steep learning curve, and a stark reality check after his years as an understudy during Penrith's back-to-back premiership campaigns.

For O'Brien, the tough lessons came last year, when Newcastle won only six games all year in finishing 14^th.

At the halfway point in this season, Newcastle were again languishing with the also-rans and only the most one-eyed of supporters were giving them any chance of challenging for a finals berth.

Since then they have strung together six wins on the bounce to climb to seventh on the NRL ladder, scoring 226 points in the process. Not since 2001 - their last premiership season - have the Knights won seven successive games.

With three regular-season fixtures remaining, against South Sydney (home), Cronulla (home) and St George Illawarra (away), the Knights are not only in contention for the play-offs but could potentially qualify in the top six, entitling them to a home final for the first time since 2006.

And while O'Brien apparently has a superior squad at his disposal than he did this time last season, he insists not a lot else has changed.

"I was always proud to be their coach," O'Brien said. "I was always invested, 12 months ago, even when you're going through tough times.

"At the time, whilst it wasn't nice to go through that season, there was a lot of things to contend with that weren't in our control, and then there were some things that were.

"We definitely learned from some stuff as well. But look, as I think I said the other day, it was only six or seven weeks ago that I was under a bit of pressure and there was a lot of speculation.

"I don't feel any different today to what I did six or seven weeks ago. It's just you've got these things called "Ws" stacked up next to the column, and it changes the narrative."

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