Justin Holbrook has lauded "excellent" Newcastle on a fast-finishing 36-12 defeat of Gold Coast in the coach's first game against the club that controversially sacked him.
Right winger Dom Young bagged three tries and Fletcher Sharpe two as the sixth-placed Knights showcased their turnaround by racing past the team that pipped them to avoid last year's wooden spoon.
Since then, Newcastle have won seven of 11 games under first-year coach Holbrook, who was fired by the Titans while the club was still fighting for a finals spot in 2023.
Holbrook struck back at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, with his Knights breaking a 6-6 halftime deadlock and running in six tries to one after the break.
But Holbrook said the win was made no more significant by coming against the Titans.
"No, it's just good (to win)," Holbrook said.
"We hung in there really well in that first half. We had not a lot of possession and defending our line a lot.
"To then come out and have the second half that we did was excellent."
Kalyn Ponga had a mixed day as Queensland coach Billy Slater deliberates on whether to pick the Knights co-captain out of position at halfback for State of Origin I.
Ponga had four errors, three while the game was in the balance in the first half, but threw the last pass for Young to complete his second-half hat-trick.
Young had earlier put in a third kick, following Ponga's bomb and an effort from Sharpe, and chased through the line for his first try.
His second came on a shift to the right.
Newcastle's other winger Greg Marzhew triggered the bumper second half by picking off Keano Kini's pass and running 90 metres to score against his old side.
For a second consecutive week, the Titans stuck with their highly-fancied opposition in the first half before falling away.
Gold Coast had ample opportunities, posting 34 red zone tackles to Newcastle's eight, but leaked four tries in 11 minutes as the Knights' attack heated up in the second half.
The 35-year-old Dane Gagai darted out of dummy half for a try that embarrassed the Titans' defence, with makeshift centre Sharpe completing his try-scoring double during this period as well.
"Part of me is really pleased about the growth in getting into a fight against some good teams," said first-year Titans coach Josh Hannay.
"Then the frustration comes from how we undo all that hard work.
"They're learning some hard lessons. But often to get to where you want to get to, you've got to go through a bit of crap."
