A resolute Wayne Bennett warned there will be much more grief before there is any glory for Newcastle after the Knights were trampled 50-24 by the Broncos on Sunday.
Bennett is six months into a four-year contract at Newcastle and the master coach will not be cutting any corners as he attempts to make the Knights a powerhouse once more.
The seven-time premiership winner has put his proven systems in practice at the Knights and said he will not deviate.
"I haven't coached for 26 years in the NRL and don’t know what works," Bennett said.
"I've been here so many times and I'm not second guessing myself about it.
"We all know where we are going, and more importantly, I know where we are going."
Bennett acknowledged the Knights had played some good football to get back into the Broncos match but the coach is yet to coax a complete 80 minutes from his men.
"I can't give enough credit for that effort to come back and get in the game," he said.
"I'm not sure how they did that.
"But we took the soft option in the end and gave up some easy tries.
"At least we went for 40 minutes today."
Bennett hinted that some in the Knights squad were yet to fully put their faith in his way of coaching the side.
"At the end of the day I know what wins and I know what works," he said.
"I've just got to get them to do it for 80 minutes and when they realise how it works properly they wont have a lot of sad days like they are going to have this afternoon."
"I am just going to keep driving that until I either get them all to buy into it or we could make some other changes (to the roster). Whatever we've got to do."
Bennett said he was striving to drive the Newcastle Knights to the heights of glamour clubs Melbourne and Brisbane.
"I made the choice when I went (to Newcastle) that I don’t want them to finish eighth or ninth every year – we are not interested in that," he said.
"We are driving towards being a top team and setting up a system that'll make them a top club for a long period of time.
"If we've got to take some pain now, we will take some pain. And we will keep taking the pain until we get it right."