Gone are the days of talking about a cliche finals finish, Knights legend Danny Buderus says Newcastle's NRL side should be striving for the top four in 2024.
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Buderus, speaking before the NRL squad embarked on a week-long training camp in Tamworth today, believes after last year's run to the finals, which included a 10-game winning streak, the Knights should be setting a lofty bar for the coming season.
After pushing some of the competition's best sides, including grand finalists Penrith and Brisbane, there's no reason for the team to be coy about its 2024 aspirations.
"The language and the dialogue, you've got to keep changing that now you've got some belief and evidence of what you can do," Buderus said.
"You start to go: 'Well, righto, where can we end up?'
"You're sort of not talking about top eight anymore, you're talking about top four and where you need to finish.
"I think that's the way we've all got to start thinking and training, and that's the mindset going into the season."
Newcastle finished the regular season fifth last year but given they were 14th after 19 rounds, it could have been a much different story had they not mounted their late winning charge.
Buderus, who played 257 games for the Knights, helping them to their second and most recent title in 2001, stopped short of suggesting the team would be premiership contenders this year but backed them to make further improvement.
He warned, however, any success wouldn't come without hard work.
The former hooker said making a better start to the season would be a key focus for Adam O'Brien's side and with the confidence gained from not only their results last year, but performances against some of the top teams, the players should carry a winning mentality into the campaign.
"The boys are doing their part at training," he said.
"Hopefully we can really start the season strong in 2024, which we'll need to, because there's expectation isn't there on the back of the way we finished last year.
"There was the 10-game streak, but we'd love to be a lot more consistent at the start of the year."
Speaking after what he dubbed a "landmark day" when the Knights held a whole-of-club training session on Saturday, Buderus - who is working in a multi-faceted role incorporating leadership, mental skills and on-field training - said the club was in great shape ahead of its 37th season.
"There's a lot of things happening that are heading in the right direction," he said.
"It's a hard thing recruitment, retention and development, they're the key focus areas for any successful club and I feel like we're making good progress in those areas."
