By Jack Brady

Friday was a night to forget from go to woe for the Knights in their disappointing 22-18 home loss to the Canberra Raiders.

Newcastle’s failure to score in the opening 10 minutes despite having the lion’s share of possession was a testament of what was to come.

The Raiders struck first in the 15th minute when Simi Sasagi out-enthused Newcastle skipper Kalyn Ponga on a contested kick.

Canberra were able to keep their foot on Newcastle’s throat for the remainder of the first half, with swift and slick passing allowing for Kaeo Weekes and Ethan Strange to extend their side’s lead to 16 by the break.

Ponga injured a foot and left the game following an innocuous tackle midway through the second half, that has ruled him out of Queensland’s tilt at the State of Origin decider at Accor Stadium less than two weeks away.

A try by James Schiller in the 50th minute offered the Knights a glimmer of hope, but it was extinguished eight minutes later when Strange made the most of a Newcastle error to help send Jed Stuart over for his second try in two first-grade starts

Jermaine McEwen’s first NRL four-pointer and Schiller’s second try of the game added nothing but respect to the scoreline for the Knights, with the Raiders rarely threatened throughout proceedings.

Canberra are now the clubhouse leaders of the NRL, with their four-point win enough to jump the Bulldogs on points differential into pole position.

It has been 22 years – way back in 2003 – since the Green Machine have been atop the premiership ladder this deep into the season.

“It’s a year of building a foundation. What comes of the season, our fate is in our own hands,” Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said.

“But we won’t be listening to any of the hype, the same as how we don’t listen to the criticism.

“We set ourselves some really big goals at the start of the year and it’s going to still take a lot of courage to achieve them. There’s still so much of the season to go yet, we won’t be getting ahead of ourselves.”

With two byes and clashes with the lowly Dragons (twice), Eels and a return game against the Knights scheduled over the next seven weeks, the Raiders look primed for a tilt at the minor premiership.