Maitland juniors Soper-Lawler and Saulo and Cessnock's Jones flew out with the 18-man squad on Tuesday ahead of the first game on Friday.

"I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to show what I can do at the Nines and then back at the Maitland Sportsground the next weekend for our trial games against St George Illawarra Dragons," Soper-Lawler said.

"I'm definitely going to play out the season with the club, whether it's with the Canterbury Cup team or if I can impress and get a chance in first grade."

Soper-Lawler, who has spent the past three years playing in the Queensland Intrust Super Cup competition, was confirmed as one of 11 players signed with the Knights Canterbury Cup squad.

Prop Saulo and second-rower Jones are both part of the top 30 squad at the Knights but keen to impress to push themselves for regular first grade spots.

Soper-Lawler last played for the Knights in 2016, in both their Under 20s and NSW Cup sides, but was not re-signed for 2017.

He spent the 2018 pre-season with the Melbourne Storm where he played in a couple of trial games, but was unable to break into the talent-laden Melbourne squad.

In 67 games in Queensland, he scored 52 tries and was the leading try-scorer in the competition last season with 23 in 23 games for the South Logan Magpies.

Speaking when he signed seven week train-and-trial deal, Soper-Lawler said the three years away from home have made him a far better player.

"It's been like an apprenticeship to be honest. I played under 20s down here and went away to try and better myself with a new experience and it was a really good learning curve for me," he said. "You go away and hear different voices as far as coaches go and I spent a little bit of time in Melbourne [he did a pre-season with the Storm] and they drilled a fair bit into me which was good."

Tickets for the Knights v Dragons trial clash on February 22 are online at maitland events.