It was always going to be a tough ask.
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An undefeated opposition coached by Wayne Bennett, 10 players from the top-30 roster sidelined and three debutants on the bench.
Newcastle didn't get the result they were after in Friday's 36-20 loss to the Dolphins, but Knights coach Adam O'Brien believes his side are on the right track.
"We didn't make it easy on ourselves to win. The effort was there, but some errors at the back end really let the game get away from us," he said. "We'll get smarter, but I think we're intact in terms of the DNA we tried to create over the summer given the young blokes that came in.
"They certainly worked really hard. An example of that is probably, at the end, two boys colliding. They're going there to get the footy, they're not walking.
"So I'll take that. We'll get better at the other stuff."
Five days after their courageous win over Wests Tigers, Newcastle fought on gallantly throughout Friday's match and remained in the contest up until the final 10 minutes.
The Dolphins held the lead for the majority of the game but Newcastle hit back almost every time the NRL newcomers scored and took an 18-16 lead five minutes after half-time which they held for about 12 minutes.
While they conceded two late tries when the Dolphins only had 12 players on the field, overall Newcastle's performance was a far cry better than what they dished up at home last season.
"I can't stand having that scoreline," O'Brien said of the 36 points conceded.
"But I don't think it's reflective of the work they put in and how hard they tried.
"We need to be better in a lot of parts, but we went in there and fought hard."
Right across the park, Newcastle's players showed a competitive spirit that was far too absent last season.
Halves Tyson Gamble and Jackson Hastings stood up, combining for the side's first try when Gamble ran onto a Hastings' bomb and scored between the goal posts.
But Gamble threw a couple of forward passes and Hastings was taken off for a HIA in the 69th minute.
Bradman Best was more involved and it was his quick run back to the 20-metre line for a restart that allowed Lachlan Miller to run 65 metres to score his second and put Newcastle in front. A few minutes before half-time, Miller had put Lachlan Fitzgibbon into a gap and then wrapped around the back-rower to score his first.
They will rue some of their mistakes, but the players can hold their heads high after giving it their all. After the results at home last year, that's all most fans were after under the circumstances.
"There's something about this mob this year that I just feel like we've got something about us,' O'Brien said. "Something about the club. With the amount of starters that were out, there's some grittiness amongst them."
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