Never before in their history have the Knights launched a season by keeping their opposition scoreless.

The 20-0 victory against the Warriors was not only the perfect start for rookie coach Adam O'Brien, and a dream debut for off-season recruits Jayden Brailey, Gehamat Shibasaki and Enari Tuala, it was tangible evidence of a team intent on creating a new persona.

Newcastle will face tougher tasks than at home against the Warriors, but just consider that the last time they played in a competitive match, they conceded 54 points against Penrith.

No team in the NRL leaked more points than the Knights in the previous decade, and not since round four, 2014, when they beat Cronulla 30-0, had they kept their tryline intact.

That's 140 games between clean sheets, and O'Brien delivers one from the get-go, with a minimum of fuss.

They say you have only one chance to make a first impression, and the former Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters assistant coach did so in fine style.

But despite a performance that suggested their team are in sound hands, Newcastle fans filed out of McDonald Jones Stadium at full-time on Saturday with mixed emotions.

Whatever excitement they were feeling was overshadowed by the black cloud known as the coronavirus.

Unfortunately it appears no amount of positive energy can counter the pandemic that is causing chaos around the world.

Following other major sporting codes, the NRL has been forced to adopt drastic measures. As of this week, all NRL matches will be played behind closed doors, with no spectators present.

How long that continues before the competition is suspended - like America's NBA and the English Premier League - is anyone's guess.

It's an unprecedented situation, or as O'Brien said after Saturday's game: "There was nothing in the manual for me to prepare myself for this."

Even before the lockout policy kicks off, the coronavirus has impacted on Newcastle's season.

Early last week, Knights officials were confidently predicting a crowd in the vicinity of 18,000. That only 10,239 showed up was entirely understandable, given the unique circumstances.

"I'm so grateful," O'Brien said. "I don't know the exact figure of the crowd, but to every single person out there, with what's going on, there's plenty of reasons not to go to the footy, in terms of the coronavirus and even the weather.

"It just shows what sort of town, what sort of community and region this is."

Now it seems the closest those fans will get to a game is watching it on TV. Newcastle's round-one performance will at least give them reason to tune in at 4.05pm on Sunday, when the Knights tackle Wests Tigers at a deserted Leichhardt Oval.