Aidan Guerra insists the flock of ex-Sydney Roosters players that flew the coop to Newcastle aren't out to show the struggling NRL club the way.
Mitchell Pearce's dramatic exit from Moore Park means four Roosters moved to the Knights over the summer, including Guerra, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Connor Watson.
The quartet bring the experience of a combined 349 career wins - almost matching the total 366 career victories from last year's entire Knights squad at the start of the 2017 season.
However Guerra says he is more focused on buying into the Knights' mantra.
"It's a different culture here and we're trying to build a different culture here than what we had at the Roosters," Guerra told AAP.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"If you move clubs, you try and bring something you've learnt but you don't think that the previous way was the right way. You can't bring that philosophy.
"The club you've arrived at, you've got to embrace what they're trying to do."
It's why the 29-year-old put club before country last year and checked in for day one at pre-season instead of representing Italy at the World Cup.
Guerra, Pearce and Kenny-Dowall were all named this week in a seven-man leadership group.
"I started the year with all intention of playing in the World Cup. As things panned out, I signed a contract to come here for the next three years," said Guerra.
"I just thought it'd be a good sign of commitment to the Knights.
"I thought personally where I was at in my career, I wanted to be able to come here and show that I was serious about coming here and I wasn't taking it lightly."
The Queensland State of Origin representative said he was honoured to be picked in the leadership group but was keen to carry that role onto the field.
"To get the respect of your peers is always a good feeling to know that they respect you. It's before we've played any footy though," he said.
"I really want to be someone that they look to as a leader on the field when we're playing rather than just at training."
The Knights meet the Roosters in round three.
