The Knights were not supposed to be on top of the table at any point of the 2022 season, until they were.

They were supposed to be bottom-ladder fodder, wooden-spoon material, an afterthought on a good day and not thought of at all on a bad one, until they weren't.

Likewise, Knights hooker Chris Randall was never supposed to play first grade at all, until he did.

Randall's rise to the big time is like something out of a Newcastle supporter's fan fiction, which makes sense because Randall himself was born and raised as one of those fans.

He wasn't quite dragged out of the mines and thrown into a Knights jersey with the coal dust still on him, but that's not far off the truth.

Playing in the NRL was a childhood ambition for Randall in the same way other boys dreamt of being an astronaut — it wasn't something he ever really thought was going to happen.

"I didn't really play any junior reps. I didn't get in the system until I was 22. That's when I played my first game in Cup," he said.

"I never played 20s or SG Ball or anything like that. I probably wasn't good enough. I was a late developer.

"I made my first-grade debut for Lakes when I was 18 and played some solid footy for them, and I made a few Newcastle rep teams here and there, but other than that I was never in the system.

"I'm just grateful I got noticed. They brought me in to do a part-time NSW Cup pre-season and I just wanted to make the most of it and it's worked out.

"All my mates are from out that way, I'm from out that way, and it was a buzz just to play first grade for Lakes.

"I was just thinking I'd play as many games as I could for them and maybe play for Country or something like that. I didn't have any NRL ambitions until they brought me into NSW Cup and I thought I had a good chance and I had to make the most of it."

Randall never expected to play one game, let alone the 12 he has run on for over the past two years, or the many matches he'll get in this year after Jayden Brailey's Achilles injury in January.

The 26-year-old is everything that is good about the Knights so far this season. He's a local boy with hard-won success earned by taking his chance and running with it, a working-class hero with the best job in the world.

Brailey will return before season's end, but until then, top-of-the-table Newcastle will count on Randall, who never thought he'd play a first-grade game and thus is willing to do whatever it takes to hold his spot. He's a good old Newcastle boy doing good old Newcastle things. And beside cloning Andrew Johns, what more could the Knights faithful possibly want?

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Adam Clune isn't from Newcastle, but it's a similar story for the Wollongong man. Eyebrows were raised when the former Dragon was tagged as the replacement for Mitchell Pearce. It was a downgrade in star power at the halfback position, which is often pegged as a key commodity.

But Clune, who served a lengthy apprenticeship in reserve grade and like Randall made his big-league debut at 24, has been superb in the first two weeks, giving the Knights the direction they need and ensuring the ball moves well across the field as he combines with the Dally M-leading Jake Clifford.

The silver lining out of Brailey's injury was it happened in January, meaning Randall had six good weeks training alongside Kalyn Ponga, Clune and Clifford. As a result, the Knights spine has been a slick operation despite losing Ponga to injury last week.

Clune has an excellent understanding of his own skills and his role in the team and never tries to do anything he can't do, leading the Knights around the field with a veteran's light touch rather than dragging them by the scruff of the neck.

Last year, the side's attack was poor unless Ponga turned it on or somebody produced a piece of individual brilliance but in 2022 things seem far more fluid.

"Cliff is getting the wraps he deserves after his start to the year but Cluney has been great as well," Randall said.

"I could feel something building in the pre-season because I was watching them at training, the stuff they were doing and the combination they were forging over the summer."

"Now they've had the chance to put that footy on the paddock and they've been doing it. I'm stoked to be playing with them.

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"I was playing first grade at 18, so once I transitioned into Cup and first grade, I'd been playing against men for years and years. I think that helped me going up through the grades. It probably toughened me up a bit.

"Some boys can go from 20s into Cup and struggle with the physicality, the change from playing boys to playing men.

"But it's definitely helped me, getting those years in early, the Newcastle comp is really strong with a lot of ex-NRL players. It definitely pushed me the right way and Cluney's probably the same."

The Knights are adamant they won't be getting carried away. Two wins does not a season make and while premierships aren't won in March, they can be lost, either by a team getting ahead of itself or prematurely thinking the job is done.

The Knights know this better than most. The last time they were in first spot in the ladder beyond Round 1 was back in 2015 when they won their first four games. They went on to claim the wooden spoon. If you want to poke holes in Newcastle's form you can. The Roosters aren't strangers to starting a season slow. The Tigers are all over the place right now.

But this doesn't feel like that. It seems more sustainable. Daniel Saifiti, their best forward, is yet to play a game this year and Ponga, their best player, is yet to hit top gear. Randall and Clune will only improve as they play more football together and Clifford is realising the vast potential he showed as a junior in North Queensland.

Dane Gagai has been superb in the first two matches and Bradman Best is a breakout season waiting to happen. It won't be long until English winger Dom Young is an out-and-out wrecking machine. Between the Saifiti twins, David Klemmer, Tyson Frizell and Mitch Barnett, they have a tough and gritty forward pack and Kurt Mann has excelled at lock.

There's been evidence of the club building over the past two years with back-to-back finals campaigns – they've been close enough to a real finals run to understand what they're missing out on. A top-eight berth should be the minimum, and from there who knows what could happen?

And after two years of not being able to pack out Hunter Sports Stadium, the Knights faithful are hankering for a chance to hoot and holler. More than 23,000 Novocastrians packed into the ground for the win over the Tigers, and it's easy to envision the ground becoming a fortress again.

A win over Penrith in Bathurst on Saturday won't silence all the doubters. The Panthers are undermanned, and will be without Brian To'o, Liam Martin, James Fisher-Harris, Nathan Cleary and Moses Leota. But they're still the defending champions, and any win over them should be prized. They are still a mighty scalp and it will take a big-game hunter to bring them down.

The Knights will have a little inside knowledge courtesy of general manager of performance Hayden Knowles, who was part of Penrith's staff last year.

Randall credits Knowles with helping the playing group come closer together this year, a closeness which has fuelled the players' ability to keep showing up for one another when some are missing through injury.

"The tightness of our group at the moment is showing. Those games last year, with a few of those boys out, maybe we struggle," Randall said.

"But the boys who have come through have done their job and not looked out of place at all. It's looking good for when we do have a full squad.

"Just being around each other as much as we can, enjoying each other's company and really getting to know each other, all that stuff really helps and Knowlsey has been the one pushing that.

"It's going to be a really good test for us. We'll really see where we're at. I think everyone is going to be up for it. I know I am.

"It's a good chance to test ourselves against the benchmark of the competition, and we've had a few wins but we're not getting ahead of ourselves, but it's an opportunity to see where we're going and how we're going."