Prop Ben Cross, who literally climbed off the canvas after knocking himself out in the 51st minute, said the effort was more important than the result.

"We just wanted to get respect for ourselves more so than anything," Cross said.

"Win, lose or draw, it doesn't always reflect the effort you put in. But it was just good the effort was backed up by the result.

"You go back the last three years and look at everyone's predictions, and there is a lot of egg on people's faces. Until these so-called experts really know what they're talking about, you take it with a grain of salt."

Paterson said he took to heart a pre-game pep talk by assistant coach Craig Sandercock.

"It was all about unity and everyone sticking together and playing for each other - an us against the world mentality, I guess - and it worked," Paterson said.

"It's only one game but it's a game we wanted to win and needed to win to prove to people we can give it a fair shake and we're hopefully not going to come last.

"All the boys out there, we just stuck together because there was no one else out there except us, and that whole unity and pride thing came down to no one but us, and we did it.

"There's been plenty written and things like that, and 'Sandy' said before we came here, never let anyone tell you what you can and can't do.

"Nobody said we could win and I think a few of the boys took that personally. I know I did - I didn't want to be told I couldn't win - and 17 blokes believing they can win and sticking together, it shows that if we can do that for another 25 games or whatever it is, we'll be all right all year."

Stand-in skipper Steve Simpson said he was especially proud of the team's second-half defensive effort, when they did not receive a penalty and at one stage had to defend three straight sets on their goal-line before finally conceding a try.

"To go out there and be as tight as what we were, everyone had everyone's back, which is what we said before the game," Simpson said.

"To come off the field having played well, and knowing that you haven't let your mate down, that was the key for us so we could come off the field with our heads high."

Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said it was a "myth" to dismiss the Knights as also-rans.

"I said to the boys, 'Yes, they've been under a bit of turmoil,' but when you look at their roster from one to 17, it's not a lot different to the side we faced in the semi-final last year which was a really tough battle," Moore said.