Incoming Sydney Roosters NRL coach Brian Smith insists the performances of the players he will coach next year will count for little when they take on his Newcastle side on Saturday.

Smith will find himself in the unusual position of coaching against the side he will be in charge of in 2010 at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday, but the 55-year-old insisted he is only focused on the Knights' finals hopes.

"From my point of view, I am more worried about the Knights winning for the rest of the season and that is what my focus will be," he told AAP.

"And if you stop and think about it, I have all of the off-season, and like I have at every club I have ever been to, I will be watching videos morning, noon and night.

"They will go back seasons on end so I can get a line on what they are good at, what they are not good at and what I need to do to build a team in a positive way.

"I have October, November, December, January and February to do that so there is no need for me to have one eye anywhere on Saturday apart from my team.

"Any coach who judges a player on one game will not last long in the NRL."

Smith also shrugged off claims by outgoing Roosters coach Brad Fittler that he threw last week's game against Manly, which saw the Knights produce their worst performance of the season to lose 44-20 at Gosford.

"Freddie is either sitting back having a good laugh about how he has wound up a journalist like that to get a story or he is doing what any coach would do in his position," he said.

"He is trying to find an edge and create an atmosphere among his players where they feel they can win and get off the bottom and that is what a coach's duty is."

Smith was also full of praise for the attitude the Knights players have shown since the news of his departure leaked out two weeks ago.

"Initially there was a bit of shock for the players as it had gone from being a very private matter to a very public matter," he said.

"But once they were over that, it was all about hooking in and trying to win games.

"They have been thoroughly professional and I can't praise them highly enough."

Smith also revealed both Kurt Gidley (ribs) and halfback Jarrod Mullen (knee) will start against the Roosters after being given the all-clear by the Knights' doctor.

Roosters forward Shane Shackleton said the players would be doing everything in their power to send Fittler out on a high and were not too concerned about facing their new boss.

"The boys are not too worried about impressing anyone and if we play as we know we can then we will be alright on Saturday," he said.

"We definitely want to win our future games for Freddie.

"It is unfortunate the circumstances he is leaving on, but for the team, we want to get together and finish on a high."

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