"It lit a fire in my belly," said Best, as the Knights made a promise to never stoop so low again.
As the teams prepare to meet in Magic Round, the turnaround couldn't have been swifter for Newcastle.
Newcastle entered the final round of the 2025 regular season in a shootout to avoid a last-placed finish, needing to either beat Parramatta or hope the Titans lost.
Gold Coast had finished 12 of the previous 14 rounds at the bottom of the ladder and were considered favourites to collect the NRL's most unwanted prize.
But Best remembers his heart sinking as he watched the Titans upset Wests Tigers on the penultimate day of the regular season to leapfrog his Knights.
The Eels then posted a thumping 66-10 win in Adam O'Brien's final game as Knights coach, ensuring Newcastle's only weekend in last place for the year was the one that counted most.
"It was disappointing," Best said ahead of Sunday's clash with the Titans.
"It was the easy option, thinking like that (relying on the Titans to lose).
"Then when they won and then we had to play and we lost, it was hard."
The Knights came together and pledged there would be no repeat of the grim scenario in 2026.
"We just don't want to be in that position ever again," Best said.
"It lit a fire in my belly. Disappointing stuff, but you definitely want to re-write that and do better for the club, community and for ourselves.Â
"It's tough when you get the wooden spoon, not only for yourself but your family. You bring everyone into it. There's a bit of an effect with that. You definitely want to change that."
The Knights are well on their way to doing just that.
The Titans entered round 11 in the same second-last spot where they finished last year, but the Knights have six wins from their first 10 games under Justin Holbrook.
Newcastle's resurgence has come despite injuries to key men Fletcher Sharpe, Kalyn Ponga, Dylan Brown, Tyson Frizell and Dylan Lucas across the first 10 weeks of the season.
Best said it had been a collective effort to turn over a new leaf under Holbrook.
"We really drove the standards throughout the pre-season. Everyone really worked hard and bought into all the new systems that the coaches put in," he said.
"Now as a group, we've just got that belief that we're real threats in this competition. We truly believe that."
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