Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett calls on his side to produce the consistency that can make them title contenders Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett is demanding greater consistency from his players. NEWCASTLE coach Wayne Bennett has turned up the heat on his players to quickly find a level of consistency that will transform the Knights into genuine contenders. Four wins from their opening six matches has them sitting just outside the top four and suggests the club is doing something right. But there is concern in the Newcastle camp about their yo-yo form and the fact they are yet to perform away from home. They face a full-strength Titans on Sunday on the Gold Coast, while the Knights are without three of their most experienced players - Danny Buderus, Jeremy Smith and Beau Scott all missing. Young forward Alex McKinnon says the Knights' winning start may look good on paper but it hasn't masked the fact they have been below par in several of their games. "We've only had two losses this year but we had two wins that could have gone either way," he said. Everyone wants to improve. We are not happy with our performances over the past six weeks. Everyone's not at their potential. McKinnon revealed Bennett has lifted the intensity at training in the past week in a bid to bring out something extra from his players. Wayne's changed a few things and amped up training a little. We are all coping with that and are raring to go," he said. McKinnon, whose been down on himself after a less than favourable self-appraisal of his own performance for Country Origin last Sunday, gets an opportunity to put that behind him with a starting spot in the backrow against the Titans at the expense of the suspended Jeremy Smith. In another significant change for the Knights, classy centre Dane Gagai returns after missing the past four matches with an ankle injury. Key playmaker Jarrod Mullen gave the Knights a huge boost yesterday when he trained strongly, just 10 days after having cartlidge damage in his knee surgically repaired. He now seems certain to play against the Titans. Skipper Kurt Gidley will also play despite not having trained all week during the build-up. Gidley will have his first session tomorrow after having an injection on Monday in a bid to settle down a bulging disc in his back. Gidley has struggled with tightness in his calves for the past month because of the disc problem and is hoping the injection will settle things down. He says he is in no doubt for the game and admits the club needs to start winning away from home to "get the monkey off our back" and be taken seriously in the competition.