Newcastle have signalled their rebuild is heading in the right direction, thrashing an under-strength Canberra 44-0 in their NRL trial match.
With the Raiders missing a slew of first-grade regulars including Jordan Rapana, Joey Leilua and injured skipper Jarrod Croker, a near full-strength Knights ran riot on Saturday evening at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan.
It is a welcome result for the young Newcastle side after two consecutive wooden spoons, while Canberra fans will have to remain philosophical after their only hitout before the new season in which they are expected to push for the premiership.
The game was all but over at halftime with the Knights piling on 30 unanswered points.
Aside from the opening five minutes, Newcastle dominated possession and territory.
A Danny Levi try opened the scoring for the Knights and, along with Dane Gagai, he was one of the shining lights for the visitors in the first 40 minutes.
Trent Hodkinson put in a perfectly weighted kick to allow Peter Mata'utia to cross before Jamie Buhrer and Sione Mata'utia piled on more pain for the Raiders.
Hodkinson rounded out a superb half for the Knights, scoring a try and booting home all five conversion attempts in the opening period.
Both sides made multiple changes in the second half with the tempo of the match slowing and errors creeping in as second-string players took the field.
Brendan Elliot continued the rout by scoring a try and Chanel Mata'utia became the third of his brothers to cross before Ken Sio completed the hiding.
There was no lack of feeling from Knights big man Lachlan Fitzgibbon who was sent to the sin bin after a scuffle with Adam Clydsdale in the closing stages.
Newcastle coach Nathan Brown said while he was happy with the performance, he remained mindful Canberra had a number of important players missing.
"I thought the times when we were under pressure, we certainly defended our line well under pressure," Brown said.
"In that first half in particular, I felt our attack looked reasonably good.
"When we had 12 on the field in the last 10 minutes - to not allow them to score - obviously, we're very happy with that."
Brown said up to 19 players from the trial squad of 24 were likely to travel to Auckland for their season opener against the Warriors.
Stand-in Raiders captain Josh Hodgson said the absence of key players was no excuse for their poor showing.
"It's a bit of a shock to the system and a bit of a reality check for a few of us," Hodgson said.
"The start was nowhere near good enough and I thought we were pretty sloppy defensively.
"We'll regroup and get ready for round one."
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