The Knights are on a roll with three-straight wins to their name ahead of facing a Titans outfit who now look far more dangerous than the group who went winless through their first six games.
With a dominant second-half performance last Saturday in Tamworth, Newcastle continued their strong run which is defying the expectations of many following the loss of captain Kalyn Ponga.
It's been a simple recipe of late for Adam O'Brien's side, with high completion rates and a patient approach allowing the likes of Bradman Best and rookie fullback David Armstrong to impose themselves on contests against tiring defensive lines.
The same was true for the Titans through the opening exchanges last Sunday and on the back of it they raced out to a 20-0 lead over the Cowboys, before handling errors and some other bad habits crept in and almost cost them their second win of the season.
The Knights have won three of their past four against the Titans and are returning to Magic Round after missing last year due to the bye, while the Gold Coast won a thriller over the Eels at the annual event in Brisbane last year.
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Team News
Titans: Tom Weaver is a late inclusion at halfback and will partner Chris Randall at the scrumbase, with Sam Verrills shifting to his more familiar role of hooker. Erin Clark, initially set to start at hooker, moves the bench. Keenan Palasia will play his first game for the club since going out in Round 4 with a quad injury.
Knights: Coach Adam O'Brien has made one late change, with England forward Kai Pearce-Paul to start and Tyson Frizell shifting to the bench. O'Brien confirmed on Friday that Bradman Best, Dane Gagai and Frizell had all completing training this week despite nursing niggles from Round 10. Fullback David Armstrong is also cleared after suffering a head knock late on against Wests Tigers.
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Stat Attack
- The Titans have won four of their past six games at Suncorp Stadium.
- The Knights have won three of their past four games against the Titans.
- Titans second-rower David Fifita has scored seven tries in his past five games against the Knights.
- Knights winger Enari Tuala will make his 100th NRL appearance.
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Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.