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A strategic move to shore up a position where the Knights were dangerously lacking in depth with an experienced campaigner after Jayden Brailey went down for the count.

But we can only imagine what initially went through Chris Randall's head when he was told.

The Lakes United junior has been busting his backside on the training paddock for the past few seasons, simply refusing to give up on his desire to play in the NRL. Then, just as he was so close to finally realising his dream he could almost taste it, the McCullough news dropped. Talk about a sinking feeling.

But coach Adam O'Brien's mantra since he arrived in Newcastle has been that Knights jerseys will be earned and hard work rewarded. They were not simply hollow words.

The easy call would have been to throw McCullough straight into the fray against the Panthers. He's played 260 NRL games and represented Queensland in Origin so he has the smarts to have easily slotted in at hooker off the back of four training sessions.

Instead, O'Brien resisted the temptation and showed loyalty to a local guy whose outstanding work ethic and willingness to do whatever it takes to earn a call-up are the very traits the coach most admires in his men.

By choosing Randall, even if it's just for this one game, O'Brien sent a message to the rest of his playing group and to every aspiring Knight out there that there is a pathway at the club for anyone willing to roll up there sleeves and have a red hot crack.

When he runs out tomorrow, Randall will be living proof.

Bradman Best may have been left out of the 17-man squad named on Tuesday for tomorrow's clash with the Panthers but the smart money has the powerhouse teenage centre starting on the left edge in place of Enari Tuala.

Coach Adam O'Brien was giving nothing away about Best yesterday, claiming a final decision won't be made on his centre pairing until after the captain's run today.

It's a tough one because Tuala and Gehamat Shibasaki, who were both named, didn't put a foot wrong in the opening two premiership games.

But from all reports, Best has been explosive at training over the past month since returning from foot surgery and has basically left O'Brien with no alternative then to rush him straight back in.

In a sure sign confidence shouldn't be an issue for rookie Tex Hoy in his NRL debut, the young fullback has put his hand up to handle the goal-kicking duties against the Panthers and coach O'Brien has obliged.

O'Brien says his reservations about giving the added responsibilities of goal-kicking to a debutant have been over-ridden by Hoy's confidence in wanting the job and the confidence and belief among his teammates.

From all reports, Hoy has been hitting them pretty sweetly at training. A bonus is there will be no crowd there egging him on as he lines them up.

Get ready for Mitchell Pearce to lead the way when the season reboots for the Knights against Penrith tomorrow.

We haven't seen the Knights skipper more focused or in a better frame of mind than he is right now and there's little doubt he will have a major influence on how far his side goes in the competition this season.

He is so relaxed, not even a major technical glitch during the taping of this week's edition of Toohey's News: The Podcast fazed him.

A loss of power during the taping meant we lost all 34 minutes of the interview. Pearce's instant reaction was: "Let's do it all again."

No-one knows better than Knights legend Billy Peden the sort of emotions Chris Randall will be feeling tomorrow as he prepares for his NRL debut.

Just like the Lakes United junior, Peden was 24 when he played his first game in the top grade for Newcastle back in 1994 after being plucked out of the local competition while playing for Cessnock.

And if Randall is looking for any inspiration as he tries to make the most of his first real opportunity at the top level, he need not look any further.

Despite being a late bloomer, Peden went on to play 190 top grade games for the club over nine seasons and won two premierships, one of only five Knights to do so.

"I just think it's great that people are still getting the opportunity at that age," Peden said when we asked him about Randall.

"When I came through, it was certainly outside the norm not having been through the junior system to get that opportunity and it's probably still the same now.

"It just goes to show that there are still mature-aged players out there that haven't necessarily been ear-marked from a young age that are good enough to make it."

Peden had this advice for the new Knights hooker.

"I'd be just telling him to roll up his sleeves and be prepared to do the dirty stuff first," he said.

"When you are given your debut, it's basically just your ticket to working harder than ever before. Keep doing that and the opportunities with come, along with the rewards."

Cessnock coach Todd Edwards, who has been pushing Randall's barrow ever since they teamed up for the Newcastle Rebels in 2017, said his selection is great for the local competition.

"He reminds me a lot of Chris Adams and it just shows what's possible when you bust your arse for it," he said. "Randy is a great kid who just never gave up fighting because he wanted it that bad.

"He never played in the junior reps but I reckon there are a few blokes playing NRL now who could learn a few things from him. He's a credit to himself but he's also a credit to the bloke in charge [coach Adam O'Brien] for recognising his talents and strengths.

"He's everything that Adam O'Brien is about. There's no cutting corners and accountability - he's got that in spades. I rate him massively."

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