NEWCASTLE fought on after suffering multiple injuries but two tries in the first half set up Manly's 30-6 victory on a wet night at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday.
The Sea Eagles scored three more in the second half but it was the opening 40 minutes where they made the most of Newcastle's injury disruptions to take a 10-0 lead into half-time.
The Knights lost Dom Young, Kalyn Ponga and Jirah Momoisea all in the space of about 15 minutes midway through the half, forcing multiple reshuffles across the side.
Manly scored their first two tries in that period.
Young (knee) and Momoisea (elbow) never returned but Ponga passed a head-injury assessment to lead his team back out after the break.
And it was the Knights skipper's support play that gave Newcastle their first points, and the Knights fans among the 9472 in attendance some hope, in the 46th minute.
After a broken bit of play around the 20-metre line, winger Enari Tuala darted back infield from the left touchline and found Ponga on the inside to bring the score back to 10-6 following a conversion.
Newcastle were unlucky not to take the lead 10 minutes later when hooker Chris Randall ran onto a grubber and appeared to score, but video replays showed he knocked on planting the ball down.
From there, Newcastle looked out of the match with Manly scoring another three tries in the final 15 minutes.
The Knights weren't just cruelled by injuries - they made 14 errors and had poor ball-handling throughout the game.
The loss is Newcastle's third of the season and comes with the dual blow of now having injury question marks hanging over multiple players.
Winger Dom Young worryingly left the field with a knee injury in the 20th minute after scoring what appeared to be the first points of the game. His effort was ruled a no-try because of an earlier obstruction.
Kalyn Ponga was then forced from the field in the 28th minute, heading straight up the tunnel for a HIA after being hit hard in an earlier run.
Exemplifying the disruption, his exit forced Kurt Mann, who had already been moved from lock to the right wing, to shift again to fullback.
Jirah Momoisea then walked off clutching his forearm with five minutes left in the first half. He suffered a dislocated elbow.
Manly only had a few serious attacking chances in the first half, but they scored twice and nearly had a third.
With his first touch of the ball after coming off the bench, Dylan Walker set up back-rower Andrew Davey with a deft pass from close range to allow Manly to take a 4-0 lead after 23 minutes.
Seven minutes later, Daly Cherry-Evans rolled a grubber into the right corner on tackle two and Morgan Harper ran onto the ball from about 20 metres out to add Manly's second.
It was the second time Cherry-Evans had caught Newcastle out with an early kick on that side of the field. Earlier in the game, winger Jason Saab almost scored in similar circumstances.
