The Newcastle Knights were handed their seventh straight loss after being kept scoreless by the Gold Coast Titans in the second half on Saturday.
The visitors were beaten 38-8 in front of 10.511 spectators at Cbus Super Stadium after leading 8-6 at the break, conceding 32 consecutive points on the run home.
This result keeps the Knights (two points) anchored to the bottom of the NRL competition ladder, now four behind the Titans (6) and two arrears of the Penrith Panthers (4).
Newcastle started the round nine fixture with much promise, Knights skipper Sione Mata’utai produced a try-saving tackle over the line knocking the ball free from the arms of Titans hooker Nathan Peats in the sixth minute.
After being held up next to the posts and forcing a repeat set, Newcastle then made the most of extra possession with second-rower Sam Stone latching onto a short ball from hooker Danny Levi and swiveling past Jarryd Hayne to open the scoring in the 13th minute. Brock Lamb added the extras for a 6-0 lead.
Lamb made it 8-0 with a penalty goal four minutes later, shortly after Knights prop Daniel Saifiti made a 50 metre break in midfield.
The Titans reduced the margin to two in the 24th minute when Hayne, who received a penalty 10m out, took a quick tap and crashed over. Gold Coast halfback Ash Taylor converted to make it 8-6.
The Knights managed to hold the Titans enterprising attack at bay just before the break and took the same lead into half-time.
Gold Coast crossed twice in the space of six minutes shortly after the main stoppage to first reach the front via five-eighth Kane Elgey and then double their advantage to 16-8 courtesy of Hayne’s second for the afternoon.
Just shy of the hour mark Titans centre Konrad Hurrell dived and caught a clever chip kick from Taylor to extend the home side’s advantage to 20-8.
The Titans kept on coming and tries in the 68th, 73rd and 77th minutes put the result beyond the Knights’ reach.
Gold Coast replacement Jon Greenwood produced a one-on-one strip from Lamb just 10m out and nabbed a four-pointer, Hurrell crunched Knights halfback Jaelen Feeney to force a turnover and then crashed over him for his double before Titans captain Ryan James added his name to the score sheet.
Meanwhile, in late team changes Josh King made his first appearance for the Knights this season, the 13th of his career, starting at lock with Luke Yates shifting back to the bench. Anthony Tupou dropped out of the squad.
For the Titans the main shuffle saw Hayne moving to the centres and Tyrone Roberts going to fullback. Elgey was elevated to No.6 and Morgan Boyle became one of four interchange players.
