Former Penrith prop Joel Clinton went a long way towards silencing his critics after leading Brisbane's pack to a strong win over Newcastle at the weekend.

He can shut them up completely in the coming weeks as Brisbane's players jump on board the Wayne Bennett farewell express, gathering premiership momentum on the back of three straight wins.

"He's playing nice and direct and running really hard which is the best part of his game. It's really good to see him click at this time of the season," said former Dragons forward Ashton Sims, who's lifted his own game at Brisbane.

"His knee is finally 100 per cent and he's definitely a leader in our pack. He's been very instrumental for us, the way he's played the last couple of weeks."

Clinton has dodged the media in recent months after critics got on his back early about his inconsistent form.

But Bennett came rushing to his defence on the back of his bulldozing performance against the Knights.

"Joel never copped the criticism from me," fired Bennett when asked about Clinton's slow start.

"All players changing clubs take a bit of time to settle in. I knew we had a pretty good player there.

"It was more about him settling in and he was worried about a lot of issues that he shouldn't have been and it's just taken him time.

"He did his medial ligament in game one.

"He put too much pressure on himself not wanting to fail the club and myself.

"We just had to settle him down and get him on track so he could play the way we know he can play."

Bennett may have dismissed the emotion surrounding his departure after 21 years in charge but his players haven't after the impact of last Friday night's outpouring of thanks from former players and fans hit home.

"It was awesome, I've never seen or experienced anything like it," said Sims.

"I've seen players come and go at St George but Friday night to see Wayne (Bennett) and Tunza (Tonie Carroll) hold it together and see all the ex-players turn out to show their gratitude for Wayne and Tunza ... it was awesome."

Sims said being a Bronco was special.

"I love it mate. I love being up here, I've loved every minute of it, it's a wonderful club," he said.

"I know I'm talking for Joel, and Pete (Wallace) and PJ (Marsh) and Tommy Hewitt, ever since we got here the club's been wonderful to us."

Sims said the players had spoken over the weekend about the need to take it up another notch for the finals starting with Friday night's clash with the Roosters in Sydney.

"There's no second chances after the first week and you have to play semi-finals to know what it's like," said the 23-year-old from Gerringong on the NSW south coast.

"It's like playing Test and Origin footy, going from a competition game to a semi-final.

"We've got plenty of guys who've played finals and a lot who won grand finals and know what it takes.

"That gives you a good feel around the team and a lot of confidence."

Brisbane, who have a great record against the Roosters, will head to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and have their final training run in Sydney.

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