Souths smashed the Knights 34-14 at ANZ Stadium in Round 18.
The match was as good as over when Issac Luke crossed for the bunnies’ fourth try in the 24th minute for a 24-4 lead; however Akuila Uate gave the visiting fans some hope when he scored three minutes before halftime to trim their deficit to 14 at oranges.
Back-to-back tries to Nathan Peats and Chris McQueen midway through the second stanza put the game to bed before Uate added a late try for the Novocastrians to round out the scoring.
Newcastle simply had no answer to Souths’ powerful running game; the red and green rushed nine line-breaks past the frazzled visitors, with coach Wayne Bennett incensed at his side’s 48 missed tackles and poor 65 per cent completions rate.
Souths’ forwards were devastating in attack, with Sam Burgess, Michael Crocker and Dave Taylor each contributing two line-breaks. Halfback Adam Reynolds chimed in with two try assists.
Newcastle were best served by Uate (three line-breaks, two tries) and centres Dane Gagai (two try assists, six tackle-breaks) and Timana Tahu (17 runs for 151 metres).
