Jackson Hastings expects it will take "five to 10 games" to settle in alongside Kalyn Ponga but the Knights halfback says the duo's limited time training together should be no excuse for round one.
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The Knights, who begin their season against the Warriors in Wellington on Friday night, travelled to Sydney late Tuesday ahead of their flight to New Zealand.
Hastings and Ponga boarded the team bus having had little more than a fortnight guiding the team around the training pitch together following Ponga's lay-off from an injured calf.
The Knights' co-captain, who has moved from fullback to five-eighth, returned for only a couple of training sessions before Newcastle's second trial, a 36-14 loss to Parramatta, on February 17.
He had been out of action "since Christmas", Knights coach Adam O'Brien said after the 24-year-old's 40-minute stint against the Eels.
While the playmakers did get a decent month together after Hastings' arrival from Wests Tigers in late November, Ponga's injury has made for a less than ideal build-up towards the first game.
However 27-year-old Hastings, who has formed a close bond with Ponga over recent months, is confident they can both quickly develop in their new roles.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not going to happen straight away. It's going to take maybe five to 10 games for our combination to really hit the ground," Hastings told the Newcastle Herald.
"But we've got no excuses in the early rounds and we want to win every game that we go into, and both play an integral role on that."
O'Brien named a near full-strength side on Tuesday minus veteran centre Dane Gagai and new winger Greg Marzhew.
Despite not featuring in Newcastle's pre-season fixtures, versatile outside-back Enari Tuala was named to replace Gagai after the veteran centre picked up a hamstring injury in the side's recent trial loss to Parramatta.
Gun rookie Krystian Mapapalangi was considered a chance to replace Gagai, but O'Brien opted for the more experienced Tuala, who has made 84 NRL appearances, including 21 last year.
Hymel Hunt returns to the side for the first time since round 19 last year on the left wing. Greg Marzhew, who started both trials in the position after joining Newcastle from Gold Coast last year, was left out of the 22-man match squad entirely.
The Knights are $2.55 outsiders for the match at Sky Stadium, while the Warriors are listed as $1.52 favourites.
Newcastle have never played at the Wellington ground, colloquially know as "The Cake Tin", and are coming off back-to-back trial losses. They were hammered 36-14 by the Eels a fortnight ago and went down 28-14 to Cronulla the week prior.
But despite trial results in recent years, the Knights have not lost a round-one match since 2017. Ironically, it was the Warriors who they lost to that year, going down 26-22 in a thriller at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium.
Former Knight Mitch Barnett has been named to make his club debut for the Warriors, who he joined for the next three seasons.
The match is being played in Wellington, rather than Auckland, due to a sponsorship deal the Warriors had in place prior to COVID.
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