A SHOT at another club record will be an afterthought for the Newcastle Knights this week as they chase a last-round victory against St George Illawarra at Kogarah on Saturday that would provide the perfect springboard into the finals.
After eight consecutive victories, Newcastle have guaranteed themselves a home play-off and will qualify either fifth or sixth, depending on their result against the 16th-placed Dragons, whose only win in their past nine starts came against wooden spooners Wests Tigers.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien has played it safe and overlooked a host of players, headed by skipper Kalyn Ponga, who is racing the clock to return from a high-grade shoulder injury he sustained in last week's 32-6 victory against Cronulla.
Jackson Hastings, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Kurt Mann, Dane Gagai, Tyson Frizell and Dane Gagai have also been given a week off to rest and recover from various ailments.
In their place, the Knights will field a new-look squad that includes 21-year-old debutant Riley Jones on the bench and mid-season signing Fa'amanu Brown at hooker, after his 16-minute stint on debut against the Sharks.
Rookie back-rower Dylan Lucas dismissed suggestions there might be any change in mindset preparing for a game that, realistically, Newcastle can afford to lose.
"I wouldn't say it's a dead rubber, at all," Lucas said.
"The Dragons are going to be there, they're going to be fired up. It's their last game of the year.
"It's a big game for us.
"We don't want to go into finals and lose all that momentum that we've built, over the last eight weeks.
"So it's a big game for us ... there's a lot to play for."
While the prospect of hosting a play-off in Newcastle for the first time since 2006 has fans at fever pitch, Lucas said the Knights were "solely focused" on beating the Dragons on Saturday.
"It's important for us to build momentum this week, going into next week," he said.
"We don't want to look too far ahead obviously. This week's our focus. We'll focus on the Dragons and get that job done."
If Newcastle can extend their streak, they will become only the second team in the club's history to win nine games in a row, emulating their 1995 counterparts.
They would then get a shot at breaking the record in week one of the finals.
"To be honest, we haven't spoken about that as a group," Lucas said.
"We're just focused on going a week at a time, keep playing our footy, and if the wins keep coming that's a bonus."
For winger Dominic Young, it could potentially be his third club record of the season.
The towering Englishman, who is bound for the Sydney Roosters next season, featured in the 66-0 hammering of Canterbury in round 18, which was Newcastle's biggest-ever winning margin.
Then against Cronulla last week, he scored his 21st try of the year, equalling the record tally shared by Timana Tahu (2002) and Akuila Uate (2010).
"I guess it'd be pretty cool to get that, but I don't think we've spoken about it too much," Young said of the chance to equal the record winning streak.
"It's more about us and just focusing on getting the job done and winning. We're not too focused on the records but I guess it's an added bonus."
Young said Newcastle's priority was "to keep that ball rolling, keep the momentum going into the finals".
"What is it now, eight in a row? We just want to make it nine and keep on winning," he said.
"We just want to win every game we're in now and take that momentum into the finals."
