Back-to-back long-range Bradman Best efforts and a try on debut by English recruit Will Pryce helped the Knights to a gripping 34-26 defeat of the Eels at McDonald Jones Stadium.
With a capacity 27,424 crowd watching on, the Knights and Eels turned on a match played with semi-final intensity as the scores see-sawed from the start until Best's 79th minute match winning try.
The former NSW Origin centre sent a reminder to Blues coach Michael Maguire of his talents if required for next month's series decider after running 357 metres with the ball, scoring two tries and producing two try assists.
Bradman Best 2nd Try
Pryce, who was playing five-eighth in his first NRL appearance, was among the stars for Newcastle and was heavily involved in an impressive debut.
Best, Eels halfback Mitchell Moses, Knights winger Greg Marzhew and his Parramatta opposite Blaize Talagi each scored a brace in the see-sawing match, while the bunker was heavily involved ruling on tries.
The Eels went into the match with the worst defensive record in the NRL but withstood an early onslaught from the Knights before winger Blaize Talagi finished a backline movement to score in the 13th minute.
With his famous father Leon and other family members watching on with Sea Eagles great Steve Menzies, Pryce scored his first NRL try in the 23rd minute after pushing up to receive an offload from Fijian prop Daniel Saifiti.
Will Pryce Try
However, the Eels quickly regained the lead as Mitchell Moses picked up for the Eels where he left off with the Blues in Wednesday night's Origin to score in the 26th minute.
Fijian winger Maika Sivo was twice denied a try by desperate Knights defence and Matt Arthur - the son of recently sacked Parramatta coach Brad Arthur, who was also making his NRL debut - came up short.
The Knights scored at the other end after rookie fullback Fletcher Sharpe combined with Bradman Best to put winger Greg Marzhew over in the corner three minutes before halftime.
Greg Marzhew 2nd Try
With Jackson Hastings missing the conversion, the Eels went to halftime with a 12-10 but it was short lived as the Knights came out with great intensity after the interval.
Marzhew scored his second try in the 46th minute but he had a third disallowed soon after as English second-rower Kai Pearce-Paul was ruled to have been offside when he caught a Hastings kick and passed to the winger.
Star centre Bradman Best was also denied a try after his opposite Will Penisini got a foot under the ball to prevent him from grounding it and Talagi levelled the scores at 16-all when he crossed in the 52nd minute.
Blaize Talagi 2nd Try
Talagi had the chance to put Parramatta ahead soon after but he was ruled to have grounded the ball short before rolling it onto the tryline.
However, Moses put the Eels in front again when he wrapped around halves partner Dylan Brown from a scrum win and outsprinted the defence to cross in the corner in the 61st minute.
Mitchell Moses 2nd Try
The Knights hit back just four minutes later through winger Enari Tuala and Hastings did what Moses couldn't when he converted from the sideline to put the home side ahead 22-20.
Both sides had further chances to score, with Tuala crossing in the corner after a Pryce bomb was allowed to bounce and the English playmaker passed the ball between his legs tunnel-ball style only for an earlier knock on to be detected.
Best appeared to have sealed the win when he swooped on a loose pass from Penisini to Talagi and sprinted 90 metres to score with seven minutes remaining but a Junior Paulo try kept Parramatta's hopes alive.
Another dropped pass near the Newcastle line enabled Best to score another long range try and seal the win with just a minute remaining on the clock.
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Match snapshot
- The Knights overcame a six match losing streak against the Eels and secured their first home win since Round 9 (14-8 v Warriors).
- The Eels continued their winless record away from home in 2024, having lost all seven matches.
- Eels winger Blaize Talagi has scored a try in each of his past six games.
- English recruit Will Pryce, whose father Leon played 432 Super League matches and 25 Tests, made his NRL debut for the Knights.
- Matt Arthur, the son of recently sacked Eels coach Brad Arthur, made his debut from the bench.
Play of the game
There were so many great tries and near tries but Best's effort to pick up a spilled Eels pass and race 90 metres to score in the 73rd minute turned momentum back Newcastle's way and ultimately led to them winning.
Bradman Best 1st Try
What They Said
"We needed to win this one and I'll let the boys enjoy that, and then we know we are going down to Canberra to play a pretty tough footy team. I know their coach will get them ready to play against us, so we need to do the same but right now ... I know how much it means to them to win in front of that crowd so I want them to enjoy it," - Knights coach Adam O'Brien.
Knights: Round 17
"We sort of won it, then lost it, and won it, then lost it. There were opportunities we didn't finish, and we couldn't really get any luck at all with some of the calls. The way they [the Knights] turned up, and so we saved so many tries was a credit to their effort. It's not a great position that we are in at the moment, so we needed to win that game to give ourselves a chance over the back end of the season, and we are pretty disappointed," - Eels coach Trent Barrett.
Eels: Round 17
What's Next
The Knights travel to Canberra next Sunday followed by a trip to Manly a week later and a home clash with the Broncos on July 20 before a Round 21 bye.
Second-rower Dylan Lucas is due back from a hamstring injury against the Raiders, while captain Kalyn Ponga and utility Tyson Gamble could make their returns before the bye.
The Eels host the Rabbitohs at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night before travelling to the Gold Coast to face the Titans on July 13 ahead of a second bye in four weeks in Round 20.