Newcastle have emerged as potential surprise packets this NRL rugby league season after a dominant display by halfback Jarrod Mullen led them to a 42-8 thrashing of Penrith in their opening game on Sunday.
While the Knights can't get too carried away given the Panthers' inept performance, Newcastle can take plenty of confidence from a fluent attacking display which proved there is plenty of top eight hope in the Novocastrians.
Coach Rick Stone couldn't have asked for a better performance first up but will be losing sleep over injuries to Neville Costigan (suspected broken arm) and captain Kurt Gidley (back spasm).
