Newcastle Knights move back into the top eight with a convincing victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Result
Newcastle Knights 42
Tries: Dane Gagai 6th; Tyson Gamble 9th, 29th; Kurt Mann 23rd; Enari Tuala 38th; Leo Thompson 60th; Jack Hetherington 66th
Goals: Kalyn Ponga 7th, 10th, 16th, 25th, 30th, 61st, 67th
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6
Tries: Reed Mahoney 63rd
Goals: Matt Burton 64th
Report
Luke Thompson started at lock for the Bulldogs in his first game of the year, while Daniel Saifiti returned on the Knights bench in the only pre-game team changes.
Dane Gagai opened the scoring when he stepped through some light defence after a dominant opening five minutes from the Bulldogs. Kalyn Ponga converted for a 6-0 lead.
Tyson Gamble exposed some poor defence from Luke Thompson and Viliame Kikau to stroll through under the posts for a 12-0 lead after 11 minutes.
A professional foul saw Harrison Edwards go to the bin and Ponga extend the lead to 14 with a penalty goal.
Jake Preston was off to the sin bin next thanks to a hip drop tackle, leading to a Kurt Mann try from dummy half and a 20-0 lead. The tackle forced Jackson Hastings from the field after his leg was caught awkwardly.
The home side looked world class in attack, executing perfectly to cause havoc on the edges.
Some poor defence up the middle yet again saw Jacob Saifiti stroll through a gaping hole to put Gamble in for his second of the afternoon and a 26-0 lead.
A bizarre piece of play ended the half, with a Bulldogs attacking kick ending in a possible try to Preston, only for Enari Tuala to race the length of the field to score.
The Bunker reviewed the contest and cleared the play, giving Tuala the try and a 30-0 half time lead.
A lacklustre second half came to life with a world class shocker from Kasey Badger in the Bunker awarding a try to Leo Thompson under the posts.
Reed Mahoney crashed over for a 36-6 score line with 16 minutes to go before Jack Hetherington crossed from a Jake Averillo error soon after to end the scoring and ensure a big victory to the home side.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Dane Gagai (Knights)
2 – Adam Elliott (Knights)
1 – Kalyn Ponga (Knights)
