Newcastle coach Nathan Brown describes predictions of Canberra's NRL demise as premature and says anyone writing off Ricky Stuart's outfit do so at their own risk.
Alarm bells starting ringing in the nation's capital when the Raiders gave up an 18-0 lead after 12 minutes last weekend to suffer a last-gasp defeat to Gold Coast thanks to a 79th-minute Konrad Hurrell try.
The Raiders' inability to hold onto a healthy lead led many to suggest it was set to be a long year for the green machine.
But ahead of the Knights' meeting with the Raiders on Sunday at GIO Stadium, Brown said there was plenty to like about their first-up effort.
He pointed to the fact the Titans enjoyed 59 per cent of possession but still took until the last minute to put away the Raiders.
"To have 40 per cent possession and score five tries, as many as the opposition, is a pretty fair effort really," Brown said.
"On the other hand, three of the Coast's tries came on the last tackle from kicks.
"I think there was a lot more good in Canberra than the scoreboard suggests.
"When you look at those stats, they certainly don't lie. When they get the ball, they are lethal.
"For us, some ball control will be good and we'll have to tackle well because they've got plenty of blokes that can beat people."
Brown revealed skipper Jamie Buhrer was under an injury cloud, heading into Saturday's match, but was giving him every chance to prove his fitness.
The Knights' coach also said he would continue to use halves Connor Watson and Brock Lamb in unison.
Despite a stellar end to his 2017 season, Lamb has been forced to start the year off the bench. Brown said he didn't know if he'd given the pair the right balance of game time.
"I'm not sure if we got it perfect the way we used (Lamb)," Brown said.
"Just because we won the game, I don't think that highlights whether we did or didn't. He certainly was good when he was out there.
"And Connor certainly did well when he was out there. He's a different player but his competitiveness and defence was great and then he went to nine and took some pressure off Slade (Griffin) and was great.
"I'm not sure how it would work in a perfect world but Brock and Connor both on the field seems to make us a formidable team."
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