The Dragons fell to the Knights 44-10 in Wollongong on Saturday afternoon as the club's tough campaign continued.
Juniors from across the region crammed into WIN Stadium for a half-time relay as the club celebrated Grassroots Round.
The clash marked the first time that 2022 SG Ball teammates Hamish Stewart, Dylan Egan, and the Couchman twins had appeared in the same NRL match whilst Lyhkan King-Togia and Kade Reed lined up in the halves also for the first time together at NRL level.
“I feel for our fans,” Dean Young said.
“Some of the results have been quite ugly, to be honest… I feel for our forwards, our young forwards. I thought our forwards did a really, really good job in different parts of the game.”
Match: Dragons v Knights
Round 10 -
home Team
Dragons
17th Position
away Team
Knights
7th Position
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Newcastle's wing duo combined to draw first blood for the visitors with Dominic Young streaking into space down the right flank before finding Dylan Brown who was dragged down by Tyrell Sloan short of the line.
They shifted it back left the following play however with Greg Marzhew finishing it off in the opposite corner to make it 4-0.
Young found a try of his own shortly after courtesy of Kalyn Ponga who poked his nose through and crafted a flick pass to his outside.
Newcastle continued finding success out wide with Marzhew burrowing his way over out of dummy-half to make it 16-0.
The hosts’ luckless opening forty persisted a half-hour in with Bradman Best taking in an intercept and shooting off downfield to dive over untouched.
The Knights made it two tries in as many sets with Ponga slicing through and finding Dylan Lucas on his inside to score.
Young joined his wing partner in the doubles column prior to the intermission to push the lead out to 32-0.
The first points of the second stanza belonged to the Dragons with Lyhkan King-Togia fashioning a grubber for a somersaulting Hamish Stewart to score in the southwestern corner.
NRL Match Highlights: Round 10 vs. Knights
It didn't take long for the Knights to wrestle back momentum with Marzhew powering his way over in the northwestern corner for his third of the match.
Marzhew nabbed a fourth just moments later off a Best flick pass before the Dragons found their second through Setu Tu who pounced on a nicely weighted Clint Gutherson grubber.
Marzhew finished the match with five four-pointers to put an exclamation point on the afternoon as Newcastle marched towards a dominant win.
NRL Press Conference: Round 10 vs. Knights
