If only there wasn't half-time.
That's what Knights fans must be wishing after Newcastle blew a 14-point lead and conceded three unanswered tries to lose 28-22 to Canberra on Sunday.
The Knights led 22-8 at half-time, but by the 53rd minute the scores were level.
The Raiders then hit the front when five-eighth Jack Wighton finished off a 60-metre break and scored what proved the match-winner in the 71st minute.
It was a crushing blow for the Knights supporters among the 16,768-strong crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium given how their side had played in the first half.
Newcastle scored five tries in a high-octane opening 40 minutes, a feat they had achieved only once this season - when they belted the hapless Gold Coast Titans.
Knights players had energy, moved the football and looked enthusiastic.
By half-time, they had a 90 per cent completion rate, had made only one error and conceded only one penalty.
It was an inspiring display.
Knights prop David Klemmer, off the back of missing the side's past two games and his week of drama, led from the front.
The 28-year-old played the opening 57 minutes, making 106 metres from 12 runs and 17 tackles in the first half alone. He returned to the field after a 10-minute spell.
Wingers Edrick Lee and Dom Young both bagged doubles, and Jayden Brailey even snagged his first try of the year a minute before half-time in a joyful moment given the hooker's tough run of injuries in recent years.
Brailey's try came from a break by young forward Mat Croker, who was put into space near halfway and ran 30-odd metres and passed to his skipper at speed.
The Knights weren't dreadful in the second half, but the two quick tries they let in after the break cost them. It was another victory in-waiting gone begging.
Coach Adam O'Brien was ultimately forced to debut two players in Krystian Mapapalangi and Oryn Keeley.
Mapapalangi, who replaced dumped 21-year-old left centre Bradman Best, did not look out of place in the top grade.
The 19-year-old, who grew up in Sydney, earned himself a try-assist just five minutes into the game when he threw the final pass for Edrick Lee to score his first of the day and 12th this season.
Mapapalangi also forced an error from the Raiders midway through the first half by applying defensive pressure and made a solid one-on-one tackle close to the try-line later in the game.
Keeley was named in the extended squad earlier in the week and then kept as one of two reserves when the squad was reduced to 19 players 24 hours before the game.
Daniel Saifiti was then ruled out on game day after contracting COVID-19, moving Sauaso Sue into the side and leaving Keeley as 18th man. But after back-rower Tyson Frizell succumbed to a lingering rib injury in the warm-up, Keeley came onto the interchange bench.
The 19-year-old from the Central Coast was introduced in the 66th minute but had limited involvement, making four carries.
