Edrick Lee scored a club record five tries as the Knights wingers had a night out against a lacklustre Gold Coast Titans outfit.
On the opposite side, Dominic Young picked up a hat-trick of his own as the Knights ran in eight tries to belt the Titans 38-12 in Newcastle, extending the Queenslanders’ losing record on the road.
It was a clinical performance by the Knights – the only downside was the five missed conversions by stand-in fullback Tex Hoy, who was also given kicking duties in the absence of Kalyn Ponga, who was forced out on concussion protocols from Origin II.
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Young scored the first try of the match in the 10th minute after heavy early pressure from the Knights.
Ten minutes later, Lee crossed for his first, followed by his second just three minutes later.
When Young crossed for his second in the 27th minute, the Knights had raced out to an 18-0 lead.
The Titans looked as though they were going to make it to half-time without conceding again, when Enari Tuala intercepted a sloppy Titans pass and took off. He was chased down by Patrick Herbert, but the break had caused an overlap on the Titan’s right, and a perfect kick from Adam Clune put Lee over for his third on the stroke of half time.
The Titans looked as though they were going to make a game of it when they scored twice in five minutes to cut the lead to 10, but when the Bunker awarded Lee a dubious try for his fourth, the wind was taken right out of their sails.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien said he was rapt for his star winger.
“(Edrick) is very popular amongst the playing group – he’s always got a smile on his face and he’s got a big one down there now, and I’m really pleased for him,” he said.
“He has battled away with pretty big injuries and a long, long absence from the game but he’s come good.”
He went on to praise the efforts of Lee and Young, but said it was the effort of the spine that allowed them to get into position to capitalise.
“The five tries in the first half were all from the 6-7-1 touching the ball – they had some really nice touches and Edrick and Dom were good enough to finish them,” O’Brien said.
He said he was pleased to see work done in training starting to pay off in matches.
“We applied some early pressure and got in the game cycle early … it’s good to see some stuff from training stating to transfer into games,” he said.
“There’s a happy dressing dressing room down there tonight.”