The timing could not have been any more impeccable.
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In that moment last Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium against the Dragons when Mitchell Pearce knowingly looked to the sideline in despair, clutching at his pec as tears welled in his eyes, the collective hearts of 20,000 Knights fans sank.
Water bottles in the coaches box suddenly became an endangered species.
A club already reeling from a series of early season injury setbacks now faced the prospect of their chief playmaker and most influential player spending a significant chunk of the season on the sideline. It was hard for many not to be thinking the season was imploding before their eyes after just four rounds.
But in all the doom and gloom from the defeat and the carnage that also claimed fullback Tex Hoy and five-eighth Kurt Mann and left prop David Klemmer fearing the worst about his knee dramas, there was at least reassurance that all was not lost.
For the opening 50 minutes of the game, that reassurance sat nervously on the bench.
Blake Green was supposed to become Pearce's support act in the halves once fit and healthy and ready to resume his playing career more than seven months after undergoing a knee reconstruction.
But on the back of just 30 minutes of on-field action, the 34-year-old playmaker suddenly now becomes the Knights' new main man.
Thankfully, it's not a role that's foreign to him. After more than 260 top grade games at seven different NRL clubs and two English Super League clubs, Green knows his way around a footy field.
As it's turned out, his return and that of fullback Kalyn Ponga for Saturday's clash against the Titans could not have been been better timed.
Green admits he is glad his first hit-out after the surgery and lengthy rehab process is out of the way.
"I was a little bit jittery and a bit nervous sitting on the sideline waiting because it's been a long time," he said.
"So to get out there and get the first one out of the way, I'm relieved that it all went smoothly and I'm looking forward to this week.
"The plan was only for me to play 25-30 minutes and Adam [coach O'Brien] didn't deviate from that. He looked after me in terms of my rehab process but it was enough time for me.
"Basically, I just needed to go out and get tackled and make a tackle and touch the ball and feel like a footy player again. I ticked that off comfortably and now I'm looking forward to getting away with the team for the first time [to the Gold Coast]."
Green admitted the injury toll had hit the club hard.
"It's a tough period for the club, we've got to be honest about it," he said. "We've got a few injuries and particularly Mitchell's one because it's a longer one. The challenge is not to be too distracted about it. We can't dwell on it. There's nothing we can do that's going to speed up their recovery process.
"They just need to make sure they can tick the boxes and we need to make sure we stick to our DNA and what we are about as a footy team. We can't afford to lose that and expect the guys to come back in and [make] good things happen.
We need to make sure we stick to our DNA and what we are about as a footy team. We can't afford to lose that.
- Blake Green
"We have to keep chipping away at all our trademarks and what we want to be about and hopefully, they can come back into the side and give us a bit of a boost."
Asked about the added responsibility on his shoulders with Pearce sidelined, Green said: "I'm ready for that. It's an exciting opportunity to be honest. We've got a lot of kids that are going to come in and get an opportunity in the next few weeks. They have trained really hard and worked really hard for that so it's exciting for them and I'm sure they will do a good job."
Klemmer said Green's influence would be crucial against the Titans.
"He's a big positive for us just to know with Ju [Pearce] out, we've got Greeny there to run the show and look after things," he said.
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