![Bradman Best celebrates his runaway try against South Sydney last weekend. Picture by Peter Lorimer Bradman Best celebrates his runaway try against South Sydney last weekend. Picture by Peter Lorimer](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AFKkRPHwQbXhqFfb42nFTx/40b6ae0f-0823-4ac2-a96f-a2c8b11ef732.JPG/r1824_936_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
IN-FORM centre Bradman Best has declared the Newcastle Knights believe they can beat any opponent and are ready to do some damage in the NRL play-offs.
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The Knights rate as one of the hottest teams in the competition after stringing together seven consecutive wins to climb from 14th on the ladder to seventh, with two regular-season rounds remaining.
Newcastle can lock up a finals berth if they beat Cronulla at a sold-out McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday. If they follow that with a win against St George Illawarra (away) in their last-round fixture, they could potentially sescure their first play-off on home turf since 2006.
After outgunning South Sydney 29-10 last weekend, Best gave a glimpse of the growing confidence in Newcastle's camp when he spoke to the media on Wednesday.
"We're a top-four side and we truly believe that," Best said.
"We're here to shake up the comp and we truly believe that we can take this team and do something with it. We're aiming for the top and a grand final, that's the goal."
Asked if the Knights felt capable of beating any team, Best replied: "Yeah we do. I think we've shown it.
"We've beaten Melbourne, a top-four side, the Warriors, a top-four side.
"We're putting wins together and across the park, one to 17, we're a really good team and understand what works for us, so we need to keep building on that."
The Knights have beaten four teams in the top eight - Melbourne, the Warriors, Canberra and Souths - and lost by a point against competition leaders Penrith and by four points against second-placed Brisbane.
The only top-eight team to get the better of Newcastle this season have been Cronulla, who won the round-12 clash between the two clubs 26-6 in Coffs Harbour.
After a mid-season form slump, the Sharks have won their past three games to sit fifth on the points table.
Best described Sunday's return bout as "another massive game" for both clubs.
"We know what's at stake," Best said. "We're chasing a home semi-final, and beating the Sharks this weekend, that's what we have to do."
Best's NSW Origin teammate Jacob Saifiti said the Knights were "not getting too far ahead of ourselves".
"We're really happy with where we're at and where we've come from in the last seven weeks, especially," Saifiti said. "But we haven't locked in a semi-final spot yet, so we just have to keep our heads down and hopefully get a home semi."