Newcastle humbled the premiers 38-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium in round 11 - their heaviest defeat since a 44-12 loss to Cronulla in July, 2017.

Kenny-Dowall and Watson, who played a combined 262 NRL games for the Roosters, had no doubt their former coach Trent Robinson would be intent on extracting some payback in Saturday's return bout.

"I think they'll definitely remember the result from last time," Kenny-Dowall told the Newcastle Herald.

"I'm pretty sure they haven't been beaten like that for a while, and knowing Trent, he'll be holding onto that.

"He'll have them ready for a big one, but by the same token, we'll be ready, too."

Watson predicted the Roosters would tap into the unhappy memories of getting completely outplayed by Newcastle in their last encounter as a source of motivation.

"They definitely do," he said. "They're one of those teams that take things like that personally, so ... it's a good challenge for us.

"We haven't been where we should be lately. We've been a bit down on form, so it's a good opportunity for us to bounce back.

"These are the games we have to win if we're serious about playing finals footy and making a dent in the comp."

Kenny-Dowall and Watson are among a host of Knights who launched their NRL careers at Bondi Junction.

Skipper Mitchell Pearce and back-rower Adian Guerra played alongside Kenny-Dowall in the Roosters' 2013 grand final triumph, while centre Tautau Moga, who made his first top-grade appearance of the season last week, played 14 games with them in 2012.

"It's always a tough battle, coming up against old mates," Kenny-Dowall said.

"The Roosters are always a quality team and they're the type of games that you like to be involved in."

Adding to the high stakes, both the Knights and Roosters are coming off upset defeats. Newcastle were beaten 20-14 at home by Canterbury last Friday, while the Roosters suffered a surprise 15-12 loss to North Queensland in Gosford on Sunday.

"I think it's going to be good to regroup, regather and refocus," Kenny-Dowall said.

"It's going to be a big trip down there. The Roosters are always a tough challenge but I think we're up to it.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and review our game and work on a few areas, and hopefully we'll put in a better effort than we did [against Canterbury].

"I think if we get our game right, we'll be competitive, no matter who the opposition is."

In a likely boost for Newcastle, Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves looks set to miss the match through suspension.

Waerea-Hargreaves was charged on Monday with grade-one dangerous contact for an incident involving North Queensland's Josh McGuire.

The Kiwi prop will miss two games either with an early plea or if he contests the charge and loses, due to carry-over points.

Roosters teammate Victor Radley can avoid suspension for the same charge if he submits an early guilty plea.

"He's their big forward leader ... but they're a well-oiled machine," Watson said of Waerea-Hargreaves.

"It doesn't matter who comes in for them, they're always going to be good and strong and they've got a great forward pack.

"Even if they lose Jared, who's their big enforcer, they've still got someone who can come in and step up."

Knights prop James Gavet has avoided suspension by pleading guilty to a late tackle on Bulldogs lock Chris Smith.

Gavet was sin-binned but a guilty plea takes the penalty to below the 100-point threshold.