Newcastle's hopes of keeping in touch with the NRL finals hinge on beating Melbourne for the first time in 12 meetings, but coach Adam O'Brien has dismissed talk of a hoodoo as irrelevant to Saturday's clash.
Pressure had been mounting on O'Brien as recently as three weeks ago but the Knights have since won back-to-back games and surged from the bottom four to 10th on the NRL ladder.
Newcastle remain a mathematical chance of playing finals but a loss to the Storm would leave them needing five victories from six games to finish the regular season with a winning record.
Even that may not be enough to book a ticket to September in a season as congested as 2023, with only one competition point separating the Knights from the 14th-placed Sydney Roosters.
The Knights' longest active losing streak is against the Storm and not since Danny Buderus' brief tenure as interim coach in 2015 have Newcastle beaten the Melburnians. The sides have played 11 times since.
But O'Brien was quick to point out Jackson Hastings, Tyson Gamble, Greg Marzhew, Jack Hetherington and Adam Elliott are all facing the Storm for the first time as Knights.
"It's an irrelevant narrative," he said of the losing streak.
"The reality is these two rosters have never faced each other.
"If you're a tennis player or a boxer and you lost to the same opponent nine times in a row, you'd probably be worried. But it's not relevant to this.
"Some of the players in those games don't even play the game anymore, they're commentators now."
The Knights will take confidence from their performances in previous games against top-four opponents this season.
Newcastle came within an inch of upsetting Penrith in round seven, scoring one more try than the reigning premiers but falling by a Nathan Cleary field goal.
Only an Adam Reynolds try in the final five minutes salvaged a win for second-placed Brisbane when they faced the Knights last month.
"This year we've shown that our best footy certainly competes with the heavyweights," he said.
"Our guys are looking forward to it. It can be a statement game for us leading into the back end of the season."
The Knights are expected to announce a contract extension for NSW State of Origin representative Tyson Frizell imminently.
The second-rower, who turns 32 in October, could finish his career in Newcastle if he signs for more than one more year.
"I think there's just some logistical stuff to be signed off on," O'Brien said.
"I can't confirm but I think we're very close."
