The Newcastle Knights have reached a new low, equalling an unwanted record held by the 2014 Tigers during an embarrassing 38-4 defeat to North Queensland.

Sunday’s scoreless first half was the 11th time this year the Knights have failed to register a point during the opening 40 minutes of a game – a feat only matched by Wests since 1980.

While Newcastle rarely threatened the line, the Cowboys scored with ease.

Two Knights errors led directly to tries in the first half as Scott Drinkwater and Tom Dearden ran rampant, and a runaway intercept try from Braidon Burns gave the Cowboys a 20-0 advantage at the break.

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MATCH CENTRE: North Queensland Cowboys vs Newcastle Knights live scores, teams

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Drinkwater finished the game with two tries, two try assists and a perfect seven from seven goals.

It was all one-way traffic in the second half as North Queensland stamped its authority on the contest with another three tries, leaving the 16,640 Cowboys fans in attendance wondering where this form has been all season.

Knights flyer Dom Young soared through the air to claim Newcastle’s only points in the 53rd minute, at least helping his team avoid a duck egg.

“Gee, it’s been a sloppy performance from Newcastle,” Michael Ennis said of the Knights display.

For Adam O’Brien, he was now simply focused on finishing the season on a high.

“It’s what we spoke about in there, we lack some confidence. We lack, no so much belief, I think you find when you’re having a season like we are having,” he said.

“You get to a point in the middle of the week where you train yourself into some confidence then when things go amiss and you bomb a couple of tries, it’s just our confidence and belief is eroding.

“It wasn’t that long ago, similar personnel were out and we played against some top four teams and pushed them to golden point.

“Went right down to the wire against the Roosters, that’s not that far away.

“But in our last two performances, we want to win so badly that we want to skip to that and everything is looking so difficult.”

“Gee, it’s been a sloppy performance from Newcastle,” Michael Ennis said.

KNIGHTMARE AWAY TRIP FOR DEBUT

Newcastle has still never won at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in seven attempts, and the journey to North Queensland continues to be a tough trip for the Knights.

Sunday’s defeat made it 10 straight losses in Townsville, and it was the 11th time this season that the Knights failed to score a first-half point – equalling the 2014 Tigers as the only teams to achieve the unwanted feat in the Origin era (since 1980).

Newcastle fullback Connor Votano made his NRL debut, enjoying some nice moments in a heavily beaten side.

Votano had two moments where his support play could have earnt him a try, however the final pass was fumbled on both occasions.

The 19-year-old Entrance Tigers junior has featured for New South Wales in the last two under-19s State of Origins, and he was Newcastle’s Harold Matthews Cup (U17s) Player of the Year in 2023.

COWBOYS: 38 (S. Drinkwater (2), T. Dearden, B. Burns, J. Purdue, J. Nanai tries; S. Drinkwater (7) goals)

KNIGHTS: 4 (D. Young try)

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