NEWCASTLE Knights coach Adam O'Brien says nobody at the club should be satisfied with reaching the finals for the first time since 2013.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Newcastle guaranteed themselves a berth in the play-offs, with three preliminary rounds still to play, after their 38-10 trouncing of Cronulla last Friday lifted them seven points clear of the ninth-placed Wests Tigers.
Now the challenge for the sixth-ranked Knights is to finish the season as highly on the ladder as they can, and to do some damage at the business end of proceedings.
"It gives me pleasure that we can make our fans proud that we are in the finals series," O'Brien, a former Batemans Bay Tiger, said.
"But at the same time, if we're going to sit around and just be happy with that, we won't be in it for long.
O'Brien was delighted with Newcastle's form reversal against the Sharks, having been embarrassed 36-6 by the Warriors a week earlier.
But he believes they are yet to reach their optimum performance level and wants to see further improvement, starting in Saturday's blockbuster showdown with Sydney Roosters at the SCG.
"There's still some areas of our game that I want to improve," he said.
"If we're going to make an impact on the finals, we still need to fix some stuff up."
A win against the fourth-placed Roosters (24 points) would give the Knights (21 points) an outside chance of sneaking into the top four.
A top-six finish, which would ensure a do-or-die final on home turf in week one of the finals, would appear a more realistic goal.
Having beaten top-eight rivals Cronulla, Canberra and South Sydney this season, and drawn 14-all with runaway leaders Penrith, O'Brien is confident his team can rise to the big occasions looming large on the horizon.
"Our best footy is good enough ... at our best, we'll compete with anyone," he said.
"That's about us, making sure that we bring our best."
This will be O'Brien's first play-offs campaign as head coach, but he has been involved as an assistant in the past four grand finals with Melbourne and the Roosters.
"I've had a fair bit of experience over the years with finals and grand finals," he said.
"I've looked at plenty of notes. I'll lean on some guys I've worked with, some mentors, to give us a hand with that sort of stuff."
Meanwhile, O'Brien confirmed he was likely to rest dynamic fullback Kalyn Ponga from the clash with the Roosters, and then possibly other key players in the countdown to the finals.
Rookie Tex Hoy is set to deputise for Ponga against the two-time premiers.
"I've got full faith in the guys we bring in," O'Brien said.
"We've been training as a squad since November. I've got no hesitation in bringing a guy like Tex Hoy into the group."
O'Brien reiterated his belief that opposition teams are targeting Ponga but added the Queensland Origin star never "whinges" about it. "No doubt they [Cronulla] did go after him," he said.
"I think that when you're the player that he is, that's pretty common and you can wear that as a badge of honour ... look, he completely understands when you're the player that you are, you're going to come under some sort of focus from the opposition.
"Is there a fine line? Yeah, there is. Within the rules of the game."
O'Brien was optimistic that Daniel Saifiti (knee), Sione Mata'utia (ankle) and Edrick Lee (arm) would be available to take on the Roosters.
"The performance unit have indicated that the three of them should be ready to go," he said.