Mitchell Pearce hopes he doesn't get booed in his emotional homecoming to Allianz Stadium but won't back down from his crack at his former Sydney Roosters fans.
The Newcastle co-captain set tongues wagging earlier this week after pointing out how the Knights' home crowds have always averaged higher than the Roosters'.
Before his eagerly awaited NRL clash on Sunday against the man who replaced him in Cooper Cronk, Pearce said he didn't mean to offend the Roosters faithful.
He was just looking at the facts, and the scoreboard shows only once in the past 14 years have the Roosters averaged more fans at home games than the Knights.
"I hope I don't get booed. I don't think I was that bad over there," Pearce said on Saturday.
"I never questioned the loyal fans there at the Roosters. They've been supportive to me my whole time I was there.
"(But the) proof's in the pudding. Knights fans get more to the games and that's the only reason I said that. Hopefully we do get some numbers there for the game. It'd be great for the game."
Pearce, who's led the Knights to two straight wins to open the season, will be one of five ex-Roosters that moved to the Hunter over the summer.
Connor Watson, Aidan Guerra and Shaun Kenny-Dowall played for the Tricolours last year, and Tautau Moga arrived after stops at North Queensland and Brisbane.
The NSW State of Origin halfback said Cronk had nothing to prove, labelling him one of the best halfbacks in the history of the game.
Pearce said the Roosters deserved to be considered a premiership favourite this year.
"He's played 50 Tests and is one of the greatest halfbacks, especially the modern era and probably of all time," Pearce said of Cronk.
"I've got nothing but utmost respect for Cooper. I've stated that plenty of times. Cooper's got absolutely nothing to prove at the back end of his career.
"Everyone knows what a player he is and, more importantly, we've got a lot of players in their team, including Cooper, to stop."
STATS THAT MATTER
- Newcastle's 21-man squad picked for this week has played 414 career matches for the club but 668 games for the Sydney Roosters.
- The Roosters have won 20 of their past 27 against the Knights and their past eight victories have come by a margin of at least 16 points.
- Cooper Cronk will overtake Geoff Gerard as the 10th most capped player ever with game No. 326 on Saturday.
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