Newcastle prop Jacob Saifiti felt it.
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He sensed it in his teammates too.
Right through the change room, actually, there was a collective sigh of relief after the Knights ground out an eight-point victory over the Warriors on Saturday.
In what was only their fourth win from 12 games this season, Newcastle managed to fight back from an early 12-0 deficit to come away with a 24-16 win.
It wasn't pretty - both sides made several unforced errors - but after multiple games this year in which the Knights have been in the contest and fallen away late, Saifiti said his side "showed some resilience" to hold on.
"I'm not going to lie, I was sitting on the bench when we were 10-nil down thinking, 'far out, I've seen this before'," the 26-year-old, who was called into the NSW squad this week, said.
"But for us to claw our way back and get the win, it was a massive relief because it's been a roller-coaster over the year. It was much-needed going into the bye as well.
"I think that win will give us a lot of confidence leading into Penrith, who are obviously at the top of the table."
Newcastle drew level on points with the Warriors following the win but are placed 13th on for and against.
They sat in a similar position last season after winning five of their first dozen games before claiming seven of their next 12 to finish seventh and qualify for the finals.
Saturday's victory did little to suggest they are about to go on a winning streak, but a favourable draw could help them replicate a similar run in the back half of this season given seven of their remaining 12 games are against sides placed outside the top eight.
They will face tough challenges in the Panthers, Roosters and Rabbitohs, but they meet the Bulldogs and Tigers and also play the Titans and Raiders twice.
"We're not shying away from the fact our losses column is a lot bigger than our wins, but we need to be winning games," back-rower Tyson Frizell said.
"It's halfway through the season now, we need to start playing really well each week if we want to be in the finals.
"We need to be performing well, but we need to win."
We need to keep ticking over that win column.
- TYSON FRIZELL
Saifiti and Frizell, who are both in the NSW camp as reserves for State of Origin's opener next week, said Knights coach Adam O'Brien had told the side to get away from footy and enjoy a mid-season break this week.
Frizell said it was a good opportunity for the team to "reset and go again" after a difficult start to the year.
"Some boys don't have a week off, some are doing a bit extra," he said.
"But a lot of the boys have a couple of days off.
"Once we're ready to go next week, when everyone comes in, we're hitting the ground running and going again.
"It's a little refresh, a chance to restart and hopefully it does us well."
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