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Newcastle has put the cleaners through an insipid Wests Tigers in a 26-4 NRL win at a raucous McDonald Jones Stadium.
In a triumphant homecoming in front of 23,214 fans after eight months away, the Knights dominated a Tigers team who were their own worst enemy.
Club legend Benji Marshall took aim at the Tigers on the Fox League coverage, questioning their effort and labeling them “not first grade standard”.
“It was really terrible,” said Benji. “The completion rate was 60% and you can’t win any game of footy like that.”
“They just weren’t competing and I’m sure Michael Maguire will have a lot to say afterwards. From an effort point of view it wasn’t there, it wasn’t first grade standard. I dare say he might be making a few changes next weekend.”
Adam Clune set up two tries while halves partner Jake Clifford also scored one of his own and had a hand in two others.
The win came with the Knights missing both Kalyn Ponga and David Klemmer to knee injuries and it keeps them unbeaten after two rounds.
Maguire said they had no one else to blame but themselves.
“It was disappointing,” Maguire said. “We put it on ourselves. The defence side of things was probably lacking at the start and crept into our game.
“It rolled into poor completions and you put pressure on yourself.
“There were areas in our effort that could have been better for sure. You have to turn up committed every time you turn up at a rugby league game.”
In a one-sided affair, Newcastle enjoyed 56 per cent of possession and had 44 play-the-balls on the Tigers’ line.
Clifford had their first try when he grubber-kicked for himself to score after just three minutes, after an offload caught Tigers fullback Daine Laurie out of position.
Clune then took charge, kicking for a chasing Tyson Frizell who caught the ball at ankle-height and planted it down.
The five-eighth backed it up by sending Bradman Best over just after the break, making it 20-0 and putting the game beyond doubt.
Dane Gagai also claimed his second try in as many weeks on return to the club from South Sydney, while Dom Young also benefit from Clifford’s vision on the right.
A knee injury to Lachlan Fitzgibbon was the only real concern for the Knights, who could easily have won by more given their dominance.
“I always thought coming here we needed to make sure we invested in our defence,” coach Adam O’Brien said.
“That’s your character. We have worked really hard the last couple of years on our character. We’re only two games in but we have defended really well.”
The Tigers have numerous problems after Maguire entered the season as the most under-pressure coach in the NRL.
They completed at just 61 per cent and ran almost 400 less metres than the Knights, with their only try coming through Ken Maumalo in the final five minutes.
In a first-half horror show, Jackson Hastings was put on report for a dangerous lifting tackle, while Tyrone Peachey was sin-binned for a blatant professional foul.
David Nofoaluma dropped a Laurie pass in their own in-goal, while a break through the middle was stunted when a Peachey pass hit the ground.
Stefano Utoikamanu also bombed a certain second-half try when he spilled the ball over the line, before Maumalo’s late effort stopped them from becoming the first team this year to be kept scoreless.
© AAP
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