Penrith are in no doubt about what to expect from Newcastle young gun Beau Henry when he makes his NRL debut at Centrebet Stadium on Sunday.

The Panthers tried to sign the former Toyota Cup player of the year in 2009, well before the 21-year-old left St George Illawarra for the Knights.

Illawarra product Henry will line up at five-eighth for Newcastle, who are hoping their new recruit can solve a consistency problem in the No.6 jersey.

Panthers coach Matt Elliott said he had seen plenty of Henry in his days of dominating the under-20s competition.

"I've watched him pretty closely and we looked at one stage trying to get him to come to Penrith," Elliott said.

"So we've got a fair idea of his qualities and obviously admire what he can do as a football player.

"He's got a really good kicking game.

"He was obviously a little bit disenchanted with his opportunities where he was at.

"At that time we weren't in the position (to sign him)."

Stuck behind Ben Hornby, Jamie Soward and Kyle Stanley at the Dragons, Henry will be hoping to strike up a combination with mercurial Knights playmaker Jarrod Mullen while keeping Ben Rogers out of the top grade.

Newcastle's pack has been bolstered by the signing of Dragons premiership star Neville Costigan and the return of lock Chris Houston after he was cleared of drugs charges which caused him to step down for 2010.

Elliott expects Houston, a former 18th man for NSW, to make a difference.

"Last year (when the Knights came 11th) was a good indication of how much they missed him," Elliott said.

"So he's a player that we respect and certainly he's come into calculations while we've made our plans."

The Panthers, who are trying to sign dual international Timana Tahu, go into the game with the makeshift centre pairing of Brad Tighe and David Simmons while strike weapon Michael Jennings recovers from a hamstring injury.

They'll also be missing workhorse backrower Nathan Smith (groin), who is due back in round three.

Both sides will be desperate to get their season off to a bright start and quieten critics who have all but written off their finals chances.

"Really what we're looking to do is evolve our footy rather than make dramatic changes to what we did last year," said Elliott, whose side finished second in 2010.

"We all believe that our players have got a lot of improvement in them and with that improvement we feel that should allow us to play at a high level and execute at a high level."

The Panthers won both clashes last year, with winger Akuila Uate bagging four tries over the two games.

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