Knights boss Peter Parr isn't just a fan of Newcastle playing a game in Perth next season - he thinks the city would be an "ideal place" for the NRL to consider setting up an expansion franchise.
With the Redcliffe-based Dolphins now the code's 17th team, talk has already begun about where the league might look next to again create an even number of sides.
Such is the interest, the Western Australian government last month announced it would help craft a bid for a team in the state.
The plan comes on the back of sold-out State of Origin and well-attended NRL games at Perth in recent years.
"I'm a little biased because I've spent a lot of time in Perth, but I would have thought it's an ideal location," Parr, who was a staffer at the Western Reds that played in the ARL and Super League between 1995-97, told the Newcastle Herald.
"The facilities for rugby league have improved over there [from] when the Reds were in place. They had to play out of the WACA, which was not an ideal venue.
"Given the support Perth people show for sport in general, and if you look at how Origin has been supported, the climate and user-friendly time difference for broadcasting - I would've thought Perth is an ideal place to look at an 18th team."
The NRL will again return to Perth in 2023, when a double-header between the Knights and Dolphins and Souths and Sharks is played at Optus Stadium in August.
Newcastle's fixture is a Dolphins' home game but after the release of the draw Parr viewed it as a positive opportunity for the club.
"It's great taking our brand to different places and representing Newcastle," he said.
The veteran administrator, who has spent three decades in the game, said not only did Perth now have the attraction of a rectangular stadium in HBF Park, but the number of people hailing from the east coast who live in the city had grown considerably.
"There's a lot of expats there and I think that's been proved by the sellouts," he said.
"I always thought one of the real negatives for the Western Reds was playing out of the WACA, where you were trying to educate people that weren't familiar with the game at a venue that wasn't user-friendly.
"The WACA was a challenge for rugby league diehards to go and watch a game, you were so far away from the action.
"So, for me ... a better venue solves a lot of problems."
Newcastle play in Perth at 5.30pm (AEST) on Saturday, August 5 - a week after facing the Raiders in Canberra on a Saturday afternoon.
Parr said the Knights would have to consider the logistics of the back-to-back away fixtures and would likely head west a few days before the game.
"The one guarantee I can give is we won't be flying in the day of the game," he said.
