Ryan Stig of the Knights celebrates scoring a try. Photo / Getty Images
Knights 14
Dragons 10
Newcastle coach Rick Stone notched one over future boss Wayne Bennett as the Knights overcame a battering to down St George Illawarra 14-10 in their NRL clash at WIN Stadium on Sunday.
Reduced to just one fit bench man, Newcastle survived a late rally from
a Dragons outfit missing six State of Origin stars to tough out their third straight victory.
The result would have pleased nobody more than Stone, who will take a back seat to Bennett when the seven-time premiership mentor heads to Newcastle from next year.
The Knights lost hooker Isaac De Gois (knee) early before tryscorer Keith Lulia (concussion) and prop Dan Tolar (head gash) were also forced from the game.
Young halfback Ryan Stig scored one and created his side's other four-pointer, for Lulia, while captain Wes Naiqama booted three goals.
For the Dragons, veteran Reece Simmonds bagged a double, with Ben Hornby kicking one from three.
The home side led 6-0 at halftime and might have increased that immediately after the break when winger Peni Tagive spilled the ball over the line as Naiqama rounded him up.
But, as an uninspiring arm wrestle continued, it took until the 56th minute for the Knights to post their first points, levelling it up when concussed Lulia latched on to a superb ball from Stig.
Lulia was heard to ask a Knights trainer ``did I score'' after taking a head knock moments earlier.
The visitors were in again six minutes later when Stig did it all himself, beating Kyle Stanley and Jon Green on the way to the Knights hitting a 12-6 lead.
Naiqama added a 68th minute penalty goal before Simmonds' second four minutes later gave the Dragons hope of getting out of jail.
But, without their representative stars, they couldn't find the killer blow as the Knights hung on and consigned the premiers to a third loss from their last four games.
NEWCASTLE 14 (K Lulia R Stig tries W Naiqama 3 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 10 (R Simmonds 2 tries B Hornby goal) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Ben Cummins. Crowd: 17,205.
- AAP
