Gagai

Dolphins speedster Tabuai-Fidow, who was playing out of position at centre and selected ahead of Maroons stalwart Dane Gagai, dived on a Munster grubber to open the scoring after eight minutes.

Gagai said his focus remains on taking Newcastle to a top eight spot at the end of the season, but knows there are plenty of players hunting for a Queensland call-up in 2023.

There were legitimate injury reasons to sit down Ponga and Jackson Hastings, and Dane Gagai, Tyson Frizell and Phoenix Crossland could be afforded a week off given how much footy they have played.

Dane Gagai captained the Knights to a 20-14 win in Tamworth, and kicked two conversions from four opportunities.

For the record, Dane Gagai had an irregular heartbeat during a game in 2015, but was given the all clear to return for the Knights the following week.

Like Gagai, the towering front rower joins from the Rabbitohs.

Mitchell repeated the trick play in the 50th minute, but a bunker replay showed Gagai had knocked the ball on while competing in the air, denying Michael Chee Kam a try.

Playing for their season, Newcastle threatened to clear the biggest hurdle on the road to a fairytale finals berth when Dane Gagai crossed to give the 12-man Knights an 18-10 lead.

This shot of Jaxson Paulo's desperate but doomed attempt to prevent Gagai's try gives you a nice view of how successful the NRL's been in attracting fans to the ground.

A Campbell Graham 60m burst set up a try to fellow centre Dane Gagai before Reynolds' left-footed field goal was the final play of the game, giving the halfback 15 points and a perfect night with the boot.