Newcastle have named an unchanged side for their NRLW clash with Parramatta as they aim to put one foot in the door of playing finals with a third consecutive victory on Sunday.
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The Knights take on the Eels at midday at McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the club's NRL match against Cronulla at 2pm.
Following wins over Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Newcastle can sew up a spot in the top four and qualify for the finals if they defeat Parramatta.
The Eels are one of three sides who are yet to win a game after two rounds of the five-round regular season.
Knights winger Kiana Takairangi said the side wasn't looking further ahead than the Eels fixture but admitted a victory would carry extra significance given their remaining two games are against unbeaten equal leaders the Dragons and Roosters.
"Our season is so short, there's really not enough time to be losing games," she said.
"If we win this weekend it will be a really good positive step leading into the finals.
"We've got two really tough teams after this weekend so we're just focusing on one game at a time and hopefully we keep building into those games at the back end. The Roosters and Dragons have been in really good form. We want to keep on the front foot."
Takairangi, the sister of former NRL player Brad, joined Newcastle after missing out on playing NRLW last season.
A Cronulla product, she had previously been with the Roosters but was not part of their premiership-winning campaign earlier this year.
Newcastle's oldest player at 30 and a former Cook Islands and New Zealand representative, Takairangi is excited by what the Knights have produced in back-to-back victories over Brisbane (32-14) and Gold Coast (16-12).
"We might have made it a little bit tougher than it needed to on the weekend," she said of the later game.
"But really happy to come away with the win.
"We've still got a lot to work on, so we're looking forward to another game this week and hopefully building on our performance from the weekend."
The Eels were hammered by the Roosters (38-16) first-up but had a closer loss to the Dragons (16-10) at the weekend.
"Parramatta have got quite a few new girls in the team, they've made quite a few changes from last year," Takairangi said.
"They've got a lot of strike power in their backs; Gayle Broughton at fullback and Tiana Penitani at centre.
"They're really exciting players and who we'll be looking out for."
