Why Penrith Panthers have left the Newcastle Knights suffering from a seven-year itch

FLASHBACK: The Knights clinched the wooden spoon in 2015 with a last-round loss to Penrith. Picture: Darren Pateman

AS the dust settled at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday, and a crowd of 21,332 trudged home kicking stones after Newcastle's 42-6 loss to Penrith, a game between the same two clubs almost seven years earlier sprang to mind.

In the last round of the 2015 season, the Knights headed to the foot of the Blue Mountains to do battle for a dubious and unenviable "prize".