The nib Newcastle Knights have posted back-to-back wins with a 28-20 victory over the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
The five tries to four win crucially moves the side into the top eight for the first time since Round 2.
Coming off a four day turnaround, the Knights showed their fitness to grind the Broncos down and claim an important two points.
Newcastle had a mountain of early possession with 21 tackles inside the opposition 20 in the first 10 minutes.
The Broncos kept them at the bay and went up the other end to post the first four-pointer.
Tesi Niu created space on the right edge and made his way to the try-line on the 13th minute mark.
Jake Clifford hit back for Newcastle six minutes later.
A set play off the scrum feed, the 23-year-old beat the first defender and jinked his way to the line to open the Knights account.
Clifford splits the Broncos off the scrum
The five-eight added the extras to give Newcastle an early lead.
A Herbie Farnworth line-break led to a penalty to the Broncos and they regained the lead shortly after.
Tesi Niu hit the other side of the defence and found an unmarked Corey Oates, with the winger touching down in the corner.
Soon after, Clifford put up a signature spiral bomb which forced an error from Niu at the back.
The Knights were back on the attack and Lachlan Fitzgibbon look destined to score but knocked the ball on short of the line.
Mitchell Pearce made no mistake the next time around for the Knights.
The veteran halfback produced a huge left-foot step to power to the line and reached out to score with three minutes to play in the first half.
Pearce off the left and reaching out
Clifford converted to make it a 12-8 lead.
The Knights enjoyed 72 per cent possession along with 902 metres compared to the Broncos 539 in the opening 40.
The two sides were back into a back-and-forth tussle in the opening stages of the second half until a Tyson Frizell line-break broke open the Broncos defence.
The Knights would have their third try with Lachlan Fitzgibbon grounding the ball off a Kalyn Ponga kick.
Bunker rules try to Fitzgibbon
Newcastle continued to strengthen their grip on the game and Mitchell Barnett barged his way over on the 58th minute mark.
Pearce found the hard-running lock which isolated Tyson Gamble and Barnett proved too strong for the five-eight.
Clifford added the two to put the score out to 24-8 with 20 minutes to play.
The Knights were rolling to another strong victory when a left-side raid found a flying Enari Tuala.
Ponga linked up with Bradman Best at speed who found Tuala and the winger posted the Knights fifth of the night.
A flying Tuala finds the line
Xavier Willison pegged one back for the Broncos with 14 minutes to play before Farnworth scored the Broncos fourth to make it a compelling last seven minutes.
Isaako added the two to bridge the gap to eight points.
However, the Knights would hold on to post their ninth win of the season and a huge two points with four games to go on the run home.
