Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga has suffered his fourth concussion in the space of 10 months during his side's gutsy 14-12 win over Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
Tensions later boiled over after the full-time siren, when Wests Tigers duo David Klemmer and Tommy Talau had to be separated from Knights halfback Jackson Hastings.
Hastings, who moved from the Wests Tigers to the Knights in the off-season, went over to apologise to former teammate Talau after collaring the young centre in the first half.
Talau failed his head injury assessment and he greeted Hastings with a push in the chest after the match.
Klemmer then became involved, unleashing a spray at Hastings, who had been placed on report for his high shot on Talau.
A security guard stepped in before Hastings was escorted away by Knights football manager Peter Parr.
"It was a heat of the moment thing," Hastings said.
"I went to apologise, I didn't realise in the game I collected him high.
"I just tried to do the right thing at the end of the game by going up to say sorry. In the heat of the battle he was still angry, which I fully appreciate."
Tigers coach Tim Sheens revealed Talau had suffered a broken nose.
"He failed his HIA (head injury assessment) so I lose him next week," Sheens said.
"So do you think I am happy? No."
Earlier, Ponga was attempting to tackle Tigers forward Asu Kepaoa inside the opening 90 seconds of the match when the pair clashed heads.
The Knights five-eighth, who missed the last six weeks of the 2022 season due to repeated head knocks, lay prone before gingerly walking off.
He failed to return and the Knights' woes were not helped by the fact hooker Jayden Brailey also failed a head injury assessment and Tyson Frizell hobbled off with an ankle injury.
Prop Jacob Saifiti was also sent off for a high shot on Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin in the second half and winger Dominic Young was sin-binned for a professional foul.
But the Knights rolled up their sleeves and ground their way to victory ahead of their first home match of the season against the Dolphins next week.
"It's too early to say but we'll just follow the protocols," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said about Ponga's recovery process.
"We gave him the summer off, he had eight games off last season, he has some extended breaks.
"He obviously won't play [against the Dolphins] because we've got a five-day turnaround.
"He was cleared to play in the last two games last year and we chose to not play him."
While Ponga's concussion history will inevitably invite questions as to whether he can make a fist of the move to five-eighth, stand-in five-eighth Tyson Gamble filled the void admirably.
He helped set up Young for the Knights' opener and then sent Lachlan Fitzgibbon over the line after Brailey went off with concussion.
Despite all the cards being stacked in their favour, the Tigers had nothing to show for their efforts.
Kepaoa had a try chalked off for obstruction, Alex Twal was held up over the line and Brent Naden looked destined to score his side's first of the afternoon until he was taken out off the ball by Young.
The Newcastle winger was sin-binned and it was only when the Knights were down to 12 players that the Tigers got over, Kepaoa touching down in the 33rd minute.
Frizell limped off with an ankle injury soon after the half-time break but the Knights were not just clinging on, they were taking it to a Wests Tigers side who have now lost four straight at Leichhardt Oval for the first time in their existence.
Young finished a well-executed move but their pursuit of victory was not straightforward, with Saifiti dismissed with 15 minutes left for his high shot on Simpkin.
Stefano Utoikamanu barged his way over for the Tigers to leave the home side two points short with 33 seconds left.
Luke Brooks had an attempt at a two-point field goal to tie the match but he shanked his effort wide as Newcastle came away with victory.
Dragons win season opener
St George Illawarra has bounced back from a disrupted off-season and celebrated its first match of the year with a 32-18 defeat of Gold Coast.
In the preseason, bookmakers tipped the Dragons as the third-likeliest candidates for the wooden spoon and after they bled two soft tries to trail 12-2 at the 20-minute mark against the Titans, the grim forecast might have felt earned.
But young fullback Tyrell Sloan, who requested a release during the off-season, turned the Dragons' fortunes around when he caught David Fifita napping at marker and tore through the middle of Kogarah Stadium.
Overlooked for most of last season, Sloan found club debutant Jacob Liddle with his line-break and sparked a Dragons skirmish.
The Dragons scored a total of three tries in the eight minutes before half-time and never looked like surrendering their advantage.
The only time the Titans touched the ball between Sloan's line-break and the half-time hooter was when Kieran Foran fielded a kick and was immediately dragged back in goal.
The Dragons controlled the weight of possession immediately after the half-time break as well, thanks largely to Ben Hunt's kicking game and Gold Coast's errors.
After Gold Coast failed to find the sideline from a kick for touch, Sloan caught a short ball from Ben Hunt and ran over for a simple try.
The Titans' ill-discipline gave new halves combination Tanah Boyd and Foran little hope of staging a fightback.
In the second half, the Titans completed at 69 per cent and had only 39 per cent of the ball.
To make matters worse, hooker Sam Verrills left the field in the 50th minute after tweaking his neck and did not return.
When fan favourite Blake Lawrie crashed over for the second try of his 104-match career, the Dragons were home.
Debutant Toby Couchman suffered a head knock in the second half and failed to finish the match in the only sour note for St George Illawarra.
AAP/ABC
