A ruthless Brisbane left Newcastle in a world of pain on Saturday night with a 53-0Â hammering at Suncorp Stadium.
Having already conceded more points than any other team in the NRL, the Knights were outclassed by the competition leaders, who ran in 10Â tries in front of a buoyant crowd of 30,394.
More Sport Videos
Rampant Broncos show Knights no mercy
Anthony Milford and Corey Oates shared six tries as the Broncos destroyed the Knights.
It was Brisbane's sixth win in seven games this season. Their only loss was to Penrith in golden point in round three.
Newcastle, in contrast, have only a win and a draw to their name and will slip to last on the ladder if the Roosters beat Penrith on Monday.
Adding to the visiting team's anguish, they finished with three casualties and a player on report.
The Broncos led 22-0 at half-time after two tries apiece from five-eighth Anthony Milford and winger Corey Oates.
The Knights were matching Brisbane set for set until the ninth minute, when Newcastle five-eighth Jarrod Mullen was knocked senseless attempting a tackle.
As Mullen was down receiving treatment, play continued and the home side spun the ball to their left edge, where Oates scored in the corner.
As Brisbane skipper Corey Parker was lining up the conversion, Mullen was helped from the field and did not return.
Without the experience of Mullen and Jeremy Smith, who was unavailable because of an ankle injury, the Knights were always likely to be vulnerable and Milford was in the mood to take full toll.
The electrifying five-eighth speared through and stretched out to score in the 20th minute after an inside ball from his halves partner Ben Hunt.
Five minutes later, Milford produced some fancy footwork to exploit a yard of space on the blind side and send Oates in for his second four-pointer.
Milford was in again in the 32nd minute when Hunt grubbered into the in-goal and his dynamic sidekick won the race to ground the ball.
Newcastle's cause was not helped when utility Tyler Randell, who was playing hooker, was unable to return after half-time.
A few minutes after the break, the Knights lost winger Nathan Ross to injury, which left them with one functioning player on the interchange bench.
Seven minutes into the second half, the Milford-Oates combination struck again, when the five-eighth grubbered into the in-goal, centre Jack Reed flicked it back before it went dead, and Oates was on the spot to post a hat-trick. Â
Brisbane's right edge joined the party in the 54th minute when centre James Roberts showed his blinding pace before linking with winger Jordan Kahu, who scored out wide.
The Knights, who scored their first win of the season last weekend against Wests Tigers, provided the Broncos with a glut of possession, continually fumbling on early tackles.
Hunt made them pay in the 58th minute when he dummied and stretched out to score one-handed.
Adding to Newcastle's concerns, bench forward Pauli Pauli was placed on report for a high shot on Brisbane bench utility Joe Ofahengaue.
Ofahengaue enjoyed some payback 10 minutes later when he scored his maiden NRL try, then Kahu crossed for his second.
Fittingly Milford brought up the half-century when he posted his hat-trick in the 78th minute, then kicked a field goal seconds from full-time, just for the fun of it.
0 comments
New User? Sign up