Newcastle veteran Adam MacDougall has requested to play opposite champion centre Greg Inglis when the Knights host 2009 premiers the Melbourne Storm at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday evening.
MacDougall will be playing his first game this season after being forced to sit out Round 1 with a knee injury.
He will take the place of Junior Sau, who sustained a broken rib in the win over the Bulldogs and MacDougall has asked Newcastle coach Rick Stone to start in the centre opposite the dynamic Inglis.
"I was given the option of what side of the field I wanted to play on for my first game back and obviously playing against Greg Inglis will give me extra motivation," said MacDougall.
"It is always great playing against the great players and he is the best centre in the game and arguably the best player in the game, so it is a great test to see where I am for this season."
"You get an opportunity to play Melbourne in itself is a great test - they are a great side and they have class players right across the field - Inglis, Slater, Smith so I won't be only one who has a big job."
MacDougall said he is 100 percent fit after watching from the sidelines last week.
"I have had a great off-season but unfortunately just a week before the start of the season we did a contact session and I copped a bit of knock and a bit of bruising and they thought it was better off if I didn't play the first game," he said.
"It is exciting to be back, obviously for the first home game of the year it should be a great crowd and a great match with Melbourne, the reigning premiers, coming to Newcastle."
It will also be a case of sibling rivalry when MacDougall takes on his younger brother Luke, who will be playing on the opposite side of the field on the wing.
"It's strange ... it's not something that I am particularly looking forward to," Adam said. "But once you step on the field there are no friends."
"One part of me is going to have to try not to cheer for him and the other part of me is going to try to tackle him. It is going to be a weird situation."
"It is like that way with your youngest brother, I feel like a bit of a father figure and you never like to pick on your younger brother and it is going to be hard just mentally getting my head around trying to hurt him, but that is footy isn't it."
"I will try to avoid him and hopefully he doesn't get the ball where I am because I won't catch him. He's too quick for me."
In other team news, hooker Isaac Do Gois returns to the squad after returning to fitness from knee surgery during the off-season. De Gois will start on the bench behind Matt Hilder.