Who needs two Ferraris when your fleet of Datsuns can still do the job?

The Newcastle Knights had a quarter of their salary cap sitting in the stands (or should we say garage?) against the Bulldogs, but it didn’t matter. Fletcher Sharpe, Sandon Smith and hattrick hero Dom Young more than made up for the absence of Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown, playing starring roles in the Knights’ 24-16 win.

The visitors were on song from the outset at Accor Stadium, slowly straggling the Bulldogs with five forced dropouts on their way to a 16-0 halftime lead.

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MATCH CENTRE: Bulldogs v Knights, scores, stats, live blog

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Smith was particularly prominent during this period, forcing two of the aforementioned dropouts as Newcastle grabbed three first-half tries through Young, Tyson Frizzell and Dylan Lucas. Oh, and did we mention they also survived Lucas’ 9th-minute sin-binning without conceding a point?

Dom Young had a big game.Source: FOX SPORTS

Canterbury dominated the opening stages of the second stanza, with Burton grabbing back-to-back tries to make it 16-12 after 55 minutes.

However, a dropped ball from Lachlan Galvin halted their momentum. Less than two minutes later, Smith combined with Jermaine McEwen to set up Young’s second, before the Englishman sealed the win with an 80-metre intercept try in the 69th minute.

The home side had an opportunity to set up a spine-tingling finish when Jacob Kiraz crossed for a fluky try with seven minutes remaining, but Stephen Crichton’s unsuccessful conversion attempt ensured the Knights would remain out of reach.

Holbrook ‘pleased’ after Bulldogs upset | 06:19

Interestingly, in a bid to spark his side in the second half, Cameron Ciraldo also pulled a shock switch.

He gave Burton and Crichton licenses to roam, which saw his star five-eighth attack in the centres — a move that proved fruitful despite the loss.

Meanwhile, Sean O’Sullivan entered the field and shouldered the load when it came to chief playmaking duties, steering the ship late in the contest.

Ciraldo could utilise a similar strategy moving forward, from the start of contests after it created points against the Knights.

Although the 16-point halftime deficit was a mountain too high to climb.

Elsewhere, Fletcher Sharpe looked to have copped a knock to his knee during his return game from an MCL injury, although Adam O’Brien was hopeful he would be free to take the field next week.

“He’s alright, but hopefully it settles down,” he said.

Young bags hat-trick in Knights upset | 01:46

HEROIC HARRISON

Shout out to interchange Knights hooker Harrison Graham, who packed a hell of a lot of punch into his 27-minute stint against the Dogs. The former Dolphin laid the groundwork for Frizzell’s try with a scything run from dummy half and also pulled his weight in defence with 17 tackles. Not bad for a bloke on a development contract.

Saifiti LEVELS Galvin in dominant outing | 00:58

O’BRIEN RUES REUNION

Spare a thought for former Knights coach Adam O’Brien. After being sacked by Newcastle last season, he joined the Dogs as their attacking coach. Needless to say, he wouldn’t have enjoyed his latest reunion with his old club.

Knights STUN Dogs without star duo | 02:50

JUDICIARY WATCH

Villiame Kikau was placed on report in the second half for a hip drop tackle on Tyson Frizell. He had two unrelated guilty charges last season. Lachlan Galvin was also placed on report for a hip drop tackle on Mat Croker. He has two previous guilty hip drop charges (his only charges), including one last week. Max King (Bulldogs) and Mat Croker (Knights) were also reported for alleged crusher tackles.

Lucas sin binned after Brain Explosion! | 00:43

STAT ATTACK

– Newcastle snapped an 11-game losing streak missing Kalyn Ponga.

– The Bulldogs have scored 15, 14 and 16 points this season. The Titans are the only other team to fail to score 20 points this season.

– The Bulldogs had 52% possession, made 7 linebreaks to 6, had 31 tackles to 18 in the opposition 20 and won the penalties (5-3) and set restarts (7-5).

– Matt Burton scored his ninth try double – four of them coming at Accor Stadium.

– Fox Lab POTM was Dom Young. He had his fourth career hat trick (three 3s, one 4) gives him 20 matches scoring 2 or more tries. His first against the Bulldogs. His 256 metres is the second-best tally of his career just short of his PB of 264 for the Roosters in 2024.

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Bulldogs team: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Enari Tuala 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Matt Burton 7. Lachlan Galvin 8. Max King 9. Bailey Hayward 16. Lipoi Hopoi 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon 10. Sitili Tupouniua 14. Kurt Mann 15. Josh Curran 17. Sean O’Sullivan 19. Jonathan Sua 20. Fletcher Baker

Knights team: 1. Fletcher Hunt 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Sandon Smith 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 15. Pasami Saulo 11. Dylan Lucas 12. Jermaine McEwen 13. Mathew Croker 10. Tyson Frizell 14. Thomas Cant 16. Cody Hopwood 18. Tyson Gamble 19. Harrison Graham 22. Wilson De Courcey