Melbourne are bracing themselves for a "full on" clash against a Newcastle side sure to be charged with emotion heading in to Saturday's NRL match at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

Minor premiers Melbourne will have just a five-day turnaround from their last game heading into battle with a Knights outfit clinging to eighth spot.

As if making the finals wasn't powerful enough motivation for Newcastle, they will be further fuelled in the emotional stakes by the farewell to their inspiration but injured skipper Danny Buderus and the club's annual "old boys".

"It's their last home game and Buderus won't be playing and they've got a big old boys party, it's a massive occasion for the Knights," Storm forward Antonio Kaufusi said.

"There's going to be a lot of emotion in their boys because Buderus is not playing and they have guys like Steve Simpson and the old heads up there will be leading the charge.

"It's going to be a tough ask. We've got to be on our game as soon as we get there, because it's going to be pretty full on."

Newcastle coach Brian Smith warned too much emotion could actually hurt the Knights.

"It can be harmful, we need to be careful we don't get over excited about it," Smith said.

"We've got a tough game to play and we certainly need to meet them head on, but we don't want to get over excited and have no energy left at the end of the game."

Smith expected a willing contest and said his players needed to stand their ground against a physical Melbourne outfit.

"Melbourne is a very physical team, they base their game on physical dominance, it ain't gonna be a place for shrinking violets on Saturday afternoon, that's for sure."

Melbourne has spent the last three days training on the NSW Central Coast after playing in Sydney last Monday night.

"It was basically to save us from travelling, with an emphasis on recovery this week," Kaufusi said.

"It's a great part of the world the Central Coast. It's great to unwind when you've got free time, but when we were training everything was all switched on an focused."

A victory would move Melbourne a step closer to a third consecutive minor premiership, a feat which has not been achieved since the competition expanded beyond the NSW boundaries.

"A third year would be a bonus, it's there in the back of our minds, but you can't win minor premierships if you're not focusing on the week-to-week stuff," Kaufusi said.

Newcastle have won four of their past five games and Smith stressed the Knights were not facing a super human side despite Melbourne's equally impressive form of late.

"They have beaten on the odd occasion and we are not playing the NBA finals this weekend, it's not a best of seven, it's just a one-off event."

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