THE Newcastle Knights have put themselves in prime position to potentially pocket prizemoney and a pre-season title, leading the NRL charge ahead of Saturday's historic fixture in Fiji.
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Welcoming back a raft of frontline stars but up against a strengthened Storm squad, Newcastle are on top of the overall standings after a 44-18 victory over Cronulla on the Central Coast in last weekend's opening trial.
The Knights now sit alongside the Raiders and Dolphins on 15 points - picking up 12 each for wins and a maximum bonus three - with the Broncos, Roosters, Bulldogs, Tigers (14) all one behind followed by the Rabbitohs (13).
Newcastle ticked all the extra boxes available against the Sharks by scoring five-plus tries, making five-plus line breaks and producing 10-plus offloads.
A superior for-and-against record of plus-26 ranks the Knights at No.1 and slightly ahead of Canberra (plus-22) and the Dolphins (plus-12).
The NRL's Pre-Season Challenge champion will receive $100,000 and another strong showing ensures Newcastle stay in the mix.
Knights forward Adam Elliott, returning from All Stars duty, spoke about the prospect of taking out the fortnight-long competition prior to heading overseas this week.
"I think as a club we're going to be confident regardless [before round 1 at home on March 7]," Elliott said.
"But it's one of the things that we hold ourselves to here and one of our pillars now - winning every moment, winning every competition we're in, [winning] every contest.
"So we absolutely want to go out there and put in the best performance we possibly can and win against the Storm this weekend.
"If that happens to mean we win the pre-season championship that would be incredible and great for us, but it's not all about the result at the end of the day it's just about the process.
"I think the boys have had a really good mindset around that this pre-season and we've attacked every session.
"So if we can attack this trial game in the same manner I'm sure the rest will sort itself out."
Harry Grant, Jahrome Hughes and Xavier Coates bolster the Storm while Jonah Pezet was listed at five-eighth.
The Saifiti twins, Daniel and Jacob, were featured wearing Knights polo shirts on Thursday's front page of the Fiji Times.
Kick-off at Lautoka's Churchill Park is scheduled for 1:45pm on February 24.
In other NRL trials Belmore Sportsground houses a Friday night double - Rabbitohs v Roosters, Sharks v Bulldogs. Saturday sees the Sea Eagles host the Broncos while the Dragons and Tigers meet in Mudgee. Sunday has Raiders v Cowboys in Queanbeyan and Titans v Eels in Ipswich.
NRL PRE-SEASON CHALLENGE: Knights, Raiders, Dolphins 15; Broncos, Roosters, Bulldogs, Tigers 14; Rabbitohs 13; Warriors, Eels 1; Titans, Storm, Sea Eagles, Dragons, Cowboys, Sharks 0.
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
