The Newcastle Knights have produced a rapid fire start to the second half to beat the Canberra Raiders 24 points to 14 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
Despite the final result, the game didn't start well for the Knights, making an error in the 3rd minute that gave Canberra a golden opportunity to strike first. They did exactly that, late inclusion Matt Frawley throwing a peach of a pass to Hudson Young, who touched down under the posts.
The Knights were there to play though, and off the back of a set restart they hit right back. They had an overlap on the right and were able to spread the ball to Greg Marzhew in plenty of space, the winger scoring a try in his club debut.
Matt Frawley dropped the ball on the Raiders next possession, and another set restart for the Knights allowed them to get Bradman Best one on one with Matt Timoko, Best the one coming out on top and giving Newcastle their first lead of the day.
The Raiders were quick to respond. Jayden Brailey made a terrible error out of dummy half and just as Josh Papali'i was about to come on, Jack Wighton sliced right past Daniel Saifiti to give the Raiders the lead once more.
Right on the stroke of half time, Matt Frawley slotted a two point field goal to make it a 6 point buffer for the visitors at the break.
The Knights appeared to be the only team to come out to play in the second half, and it was made clear from the outset. The Raiders immediately gave away a penalty, and in their first set in good ball of the half Tyson Gamble threw a brilliant cutout pass to put Marzhew over for his second of the day. Miller converted, erasing the Raiders lead.
Newcastle then went the length of the field in the set after points, Hetherington running onto an inside ball and breaking tackles while the Raiders defensive line struggled to recover. Dane Gagai got some early ball and dived over in the corner, and just like that a Raiders 6 point lead had become a Knights 6 point lead in 8 minutes.
The horror period continued for the Raiders, Jack Wighton heading to the sin bin for making late and high contact with Jackson Hastings after a kick. The Knights took immediate advantage, this time it was Tyson Frizell crashing over for a four pointer.
That was all the scoring there was for the game, the Raiders having countless opportunities but finding no way through the brick wall that was the Newcastle defence.
Next week, the Knights travel to Mudgee to take on the high flying Sea Eagles, while it doesn't get any easier for the Raiders who will host defending premiers the Panthers.