Canterbury have condemned Newcastle to a club-record 14th straight NRL loss at Hunter Stadium, outclassing the hapless Knights 28-14 to move back into the top four.
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A strong start to the second half for Newcastle got the game on level terms, but they couldn’t maintain the rage and the Bulldogs get the win they wanted.
Canterbury made that a bit harder than they needed to but in truth they did look a class above throughout the game and when they got back in front they switched to ‘classic Bulldogs’ mode, grinding the Knights and taking control of the tempo.
There will be plenty for the Knights to take out of the game, their moments of great play are happening more often but they are still outweighed by poor focus and a lack of ball control.
The Bulldogs won’t spend much time reviewing this one. They won, they’ll worry about more important things in September.
Newcastle lost 13 straight games in 2005, but their 2016 counterparts – winning just once this year and on track for a second-straight wooden spoon – have displaced them in the record books as the worst-performed team in club history.
Bulldogs halfback Moses Mbye scored a try, set up another and kicked six goals from as many attempts on a wet Saturday afternoon to inspire the visitors to their sixth win from their past seven games.
Canterbury (30 points) climb to third, at least temporarily leap-frogging Canberra (29) and North Queensland (28) who are yet to play this weekend. The Raiders take on Cronulla at Shark Park on Saturday night and the Cowboys travel to Leichhardt Oval on Sunday to face the Wests Tigers.
Final score
Knights 14
Bulldogs 28
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
3- Moses Mbye: He helped the Bulldogs control the tempo and made good choices at halfback. Scored a try, set up a try and went 6-6 with the boot.
2- David Klemmer: Klemmer was monstrous today, pushing the Knights back on their heels time and time again and almost scoring twice. His strong work went a long way to settling things down when the Knights were up and about.
1- Jarrod Mullen: Mullen was good for the Knights coming back from a hamstring strain. His kicking game was on song throughout the day and although he had a kick charged down which led to a score, he was the Knights’ best.
With AAP.
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