Newcastle Knights

Niu scored twice in the first half before his third with 12 minutes to go looked to have put the result beyond doubt, only for Felise Kaufusi to then be sent to the sin bin for a late tackle which saw him put on report for the second time in the game at McDonald Jones Stadium.

It set up a nervous finish, before Isaako's double inside the last five minutes saw Wayne Bennett's side get past a stubborn Knights side who had three players appearing at NRL level for the first time, with a bench that had just 18 total games of first-grade experience. 

The undefeated Dolphins face their first test on the road when they travel to Newcastle to take on the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Wayne Bennett's side have stunned many with their start to their inaugural season and they'll be out to keep that record intact against a Knights outfit which is expected to be heavily depleted for the match. 

Newcastle's miraculous effort to hold on against Wests Tigers on Sunday appears to have come at a cost with coach Adam O'Brien expecting up to six players to be unavailable. 

Wests Tigers only had themselves to blame in a first-up loss to the Titans with plenty of opportunities in attack not taken in front of a vocal home crowd who won't want a repeat at the venue this weekend.

The Knights too were left to rue multiple missed opportunities with the ball in hand with the Warriors' defence on song to deny Adam O'Brien's side a chance to snatch victory.

All eyes will be on Jackson Hastings and David Klemmer taking on their former clubs.

It means the Titans and Dolphins have also missed out on the 21-year-old’s signature.

According to News Corp, the Titans were willing to offer Young over $500,000 a season but it couldn’t compare to the Roosters’ reputation and premiership chances.

Graham's poise was crucial during a tight first half as the Sharks gradually took control while former Panther Puru had plenty of nice touches in the 12-point victory.

The Sharks opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Thomas Rodwell finished off some slick ball movement to score in the left hand corner. Niwhai Puru's conversion made it 6-0.

Former Bronco Tyson Gamble hit back for the Knights four minutes later courtesy of a nice offload from back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon.

Down by 14 at half-time, the Raiders dominated the second half and struck the telling blow seven minutes from time when representative props Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine combined for a long-range break, which ended in Jack Wighton scoring in the corner. 

Jordan Rapana then had to make a try-saving intervention 30 seconds from time when Edrick Lee flew into the corner for what would have been his third try, with Rapana doing enough to force Lee to put the ball down on the sideline in attempting to ground it. 

The Raiders almost let the Dragons off the hook in a frantic finish but the two-point win keeps them hot on the heels of the Roosters with three games to play.

The occasion will be an intriguing trip for the visitors, who haven't played the Knights at home for five years. Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric, Jordan Rapana, Elliot Whitehead and Joseph Tapine are the only current Raiders who featured in the 2017 game.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are reeling after five defeats from their past six matches, finding themselves in 14th position on the ladder.

After dominating the opening 40 minutes to lead 18-0, Brisbane allowed the Knights back into the match in the second period before Cobbo's double inside the final 10 minutes ensured they picked up their 13th victory of the season. 

The win lifts Brisbane to sixth position ahead of a crucial meeting with the fourth-placed Storm in round 23, while also boosting their points differential which is the second-worst among current top-eight sides. 

With games against the Storm and Eels still to come it's crucial that Kevin Walters' men take care of business against the 15th-placed Knights and get their defence back in order after conceding 66 points in the past fortnight.

The Knights are coming off a morale-boosting win over Wests Tigers and will fancy their chances of an upset on the back of Daniel Saifiti, Tyson Frizell and Mitch Barnett up front and Dane Gagai out wide.

A lacklustre match between two teams desperately trying to avoid finishing on the bottom of the ladder looked like one-way traffic early before it came to life as the Wests Tigers tried to get back into the game after trailing 14-0.

The Knights took advantage of some flimsy left edge defence from the home side in the first half to run in three tries for a 14-0 lead.

A double to Enari Tuala started proceedings before departing Knight Tex Hoy bounced off Adam Doueihi's tackle attempt to cross for the visitors' third.