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Newcastle are hoping to hand Parramatta back-to-back NRL losses after a big week in the Hunter in which the Knights retained skipper Kalyn Ponga on a new deal.

Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien admits he's happy to put the drama of the past week behind them as the Knights prepare to avoid a Parramatta ambush on Sunday afternoon.

The Knights are staring down the barrel of four straight NRL losses, after starting the season in fine form, with injuries taking their toll their win over Wests Tigers more than a month ago.

Having put to bed speculation surrounding skipper Kalyn Ponga's future in the week, O'Brien said a win over the Eels would cap off a big seven days.

"The start of the week was a bit bumpy but got a really good result for the club and the town at the end of the week, and for the team," he said.

"But the icing on the cake would be really good performance on Sunday for our fans."

Parramatta have enjoyed recent success in the Hunter, winning four of their past six games on the road in Newcastle.

The Eels will be hungry for a bounce-back win after their loss to the Tigers last time out, falling to a Jackson Hastings field goal on the siren.

O'Brien said opposition coach Brad Arthur will have Parramatta fired up but their focus remains on how they attack Sunday's Anzac round clash.

"Obviously, they'd be disappointed with the result of the game last week so I'd imagine we'll have a pretty fired up Eels team," he said.

"But at the end of the day, we can't spend all our time worrying about how they're going to turn up. We we need to get us right."

In a bonus for Newcastle, Adam Clune returns to the halves after he was a late omission late week due to a knee injury.

Winger Hymel Hunt will return to action but not in first grade, as his comeback from knee injury is via the NSW Cup.

For the Eels, Junior Paulo returns to the starting side after a one-week suspension, shifting Oregon Kaufusi to the bench with Will Penisini replacing Marata Niukore (leg tightness) in the centres.