The return of star halfback Mitchell Pearce inspired Newcastle to a crucial 28-20 win over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Playing just his seventh game of the season and his first in a month, Pearce scored a try on the stroke of half-time and kicked astutely to guide the Knights into the top eight for the time being at least.
The Knights took control of the game early and had seven sets on Brisbane’s line inside the opening 10 minutes but could not find a way through.
When Brisbane finally got some field position they made it count when young fullback Tesi Niu crossed in the 13th minute to but the lead was short lived as Jake Clifford crossed seven minutes later and the Knights led 6-4.
Niu then turned provider as he went left and drew in Kurt Mann before sliding a nice ball out to winger Corey Oates for a try.
Despite their lack of ball the Broncos looked set to lead at the break before Pearce produced a trademark left foot step to beat a couple of defenders and then reach out to score.
The Knights then took charge in the second half with Lachlan Fitzgibbon scoring off a Kalyn Ponga grubber to make it 18-8 before Mitch Barnett crossed in the 59th minute to make it 24-8.
Four minutes later Ponga hit the afterburners and found Bradman Best who sent the ball to Enari Tuala to touch down for the Knights’ fifth try.
Brisbane pulled one back through second-gamer Xavier Willison in the 67th minute and when Herbie Farnworth crossed six minutes later there were heart flutters in the Knights’ coaching box but they clung on.
Leading the way up front for Newcastle were NSW Origin prop Daniel Saifiti (20 runs for 206 metres) and former Blue David Klemmer (16 runs for 185 metres).
The Knights’ win had even more merit given they had just four days to recover from their round 20 win over the Raiders.
They now sit on 20 competition points and will watch with interest as the teams on 18 points (Titans, Sharks, Raiders, Dragons) battle it out over the weekend.
With a nine-day turnaround before their next game against Cronulla, the Knights will be hoping Fitzgibbon (shoulder) and Hymel Hunt (head knock) will be good to go.
Story first published on NRL.com by Martin Lenehan, NRL.com Senior Journalist