THE frown on Ben Cross's face after yesterday's 34-22 loss to Brisbane reaffirmed his reputation as a perfectionist and professional.

The 2007 Melbourne premiership-winner made an immediate impact on his debut for the Knights but, as would be expected in his first real hit-out since the grand final more than six months ago, there was plenty of room for improvement.

The giant prop produced two hit-ups in the opening minute of the game, including a fearless charge from the kick-off.

He followed soon after with a jolting tackle on Broncos fullback Karmichael Hunt and then off-loaded a couple of classy passes that put Newcastle on the attack. But in amongst his hard yards were a couple of defensive lapses around the rucks that led directly to Brisbane tries.

The Country Origin enforcer spent a total of 42 minutes on the field, making 76 metres from nine hit-ups, with 21 tackles, four missed tackles and a handling error.

Afterwards he provided an honest self-appraisal.

"It was all right, until I got put back on in the first half and missed that tackle that let to that try," Cross said. "That was disappointing. I found my fitness pretty good and felt all right out there. My execution of plays was fine, I thought.

"I wasn't anywhere near my best, and I'm sure I can go up from there."

Knights skipper Danny Buderus was confident Cross, who missed the first four rounds of 2008 with a broken wrist, will improve rapidly once he finds his match legs.

"Crossy's only going to get better," Buderus said.

"You've got to understand that's his first hit-out for us. What he brings to the team is going to be a massive advantage for us."

Buderus said Cross's opening onslaught gave his teammates and the parochial crowd a lift.

"I think it probably took the fans back a bit to the old days of Chief [Paul Harragon]," Buderus said.

"I think we'll see him winding up a bit . . . I've been looking forward to playing with him for a long time, since we signed him up."