Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has backed Aidan Sezer to start for the Raiders soon but their NRL match against Newcastle won't be it.
Canberra return to GIO Stadium on Sunday night after a 30-28 opening-round defeat to Gold Coast, in which they coughed up an early 18-point advantage.
But Stuart is sticking with a similar side against the Knights, meaning Sezer will come off the bench in place of starting hooker Silvia Havili.
Blake Austin paired with Sam Williams in the halves against the Titans, with Stuart believing competition for the No.6 and 7 spots is healthy.
Sezer and Austin combined last season but a knee injury to star hooker Josh Hodgson forced Stuart to tinker with the team.
"Aidan's in the wings now doing a job for the team but he won't be too far away from coming into the starting team as one of the halves," Stuart said.
"So it's up to Sam and Blake to keep their position and it's great to have that competitiveness in a very important position."
Despite enjoying a dominant home record against Newcastle, Canberra is wary of the visitors, who have risen out of the doldrums following crucial signings.
Many thought it would take a while for the new team to gel but the Knights had a memorable first-up golden-point win against Manly.
"They were strong last week and they'll be strong this week because they've added some important experience that will be of great benefit to their younger players," Stuart said.
"They've done some work on the Newcastle kicking game. It's important that you put an emphasis on that."
Forward Joe Tapine dislocated his thumb on the Gold Coast, meaning he'll miss up to four weeks, so Elliott Whitehead shifts to the second row and Luke Bateman is named at lock.
Newcastle coach Nathan Brown has left his line-up unchanged as the Knights look to claim just their sixth win at GIO Stadium since 1988.
STATS THAT MATTER
* The Raiders are out to avoid losing two games to open a season for a consecutive year. They haven't done that since 1997 and 1998.
* The Knights have lost 24 out of their past 25 away matches.
* Mitchell Pearce's past two matches against Canberra have been sensational, creating six tries and six line breaks.
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