Canterbury's middle forwards have vowed to become Reed Mahoney's bodyguards as the Bulldogs plot to recover from the defensive woes of their last loss.
Cronulla tore through the Bulldogs' forward pack in the game before the bye, scoring four tries by barging over through the middle of the park at close range.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo put his middle men on notice for leaving the diminutive Mahoney out to dry in defence as the Bulldogs missed 52 tackles.
"If you're going to sit on your heels and let your number nine get targeted the way he is at the moment, you're going to miss a lot of tackles," Ciraldo said at the time.
In the two weeks between that game and Sunday's clash with Newcastle, defence has been high on the hit-list for the Bulldogs' big men.
"A lot has been around attitude and intent," prop Franklin Pele said.
"That's probably the root of everything and we're working really hard on that, staying connected as a group and as a pack as well."
Returning from knee soreness for his first NRL game in a month, Bulldogs recruit Ryan Sutton said the forward pack would make it their mission to guard Mahoney from the Knights' enforcers.
"We've just got to be harder on ourselves and make sure we're a real pack," he said.
"As a middle unit, you've got to protect your small blokes.
"It doesn't matter if you're the best defender or the worst defender, if you're smaller, you're going to be a target.
"If someone's in front of you, you don't let him skip in front of you and get to someone who's in a worse position."
The Bulldogs sit 15th on the ladder through 17 rounds but are not yet out of finals contention given the congested nature of the ladder this season.
With clashes against top-eight sides Penrith, Brisbane, Canberra and South Sydney awaiting them, though, the Bulldogs must make the most of weaker opposition such as the 14th-placed Knights, who have lost their last three games.
"Every game that we've had, we've felt the same thing: We need to win," Sutton said.
"We go into every game confident we've got the game plan to get the game done."
Five-eighth Khaled Rajab will come in for his first start as an NRL player after fellow rookie Karl Oloapu dropped out with a neck injury.
"The confidence that (Rajab) has, especially only playing a couple of games, is rubbing off on everyone around him," Pele said.
