Centre Bradman Best the star as Knights produce gritty win over the Warriors

But Newcastle's gutsy 20-16 win in Gosford was more about the grit and resolve of their defence than it was about flashy attack.

Bradman Best came up with the gold. Two sublime passes that directly led to two Hymel Hunt tries, the second the matchwinner late in the game.

The rest of the 80 minutes was about rolling up the sleeves and repelling wave after wave of Warriors attack.

The Knights were hammered in the six agains and finished the match with only a 45 percent share of possession.

They were forced to make around 120 more tackles than their opponents and had seven players, headed by Jayden Brailey [61] and Connor Watson [41], who made more than 30 tackles for the game.

Early in the first half, the Warriors had five consecutive sets on the Knights tryline and couldn't get across. Even with the weight of possession stacked against them, they found a way to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact.

Coach Adam O'Brien understandably could not fault his side's commitment.

"I'm not massive on stats but I can tell when we've had a go and when we haven't and I think were up around 118-120 more tackles and that's a lot of sets of six," he said.

"We showed a lot of grit and with the footy, we were up over 90 percent completions and that's what we spoke about with these early rounds because that's what's gets you the result.

"It wasn't about being ultra expansive and fancy, it was about being tough and that's exactly what they gave us."

LISTEN: Toohey's News the podcast: featuring Knights boss Phil Gardner

But you need more than just defensive resolve to win NRL games and the Knights' 19-year-old centre was the X-factor.

Best channeled former Knight Matt Gidley with a brilliant flick pass for the first Hunt try in the corner not long after halftime to stretch his side's halftime advantage from 8-6 to 14-6.

Then, after the Warriors threatened to steal the game with a try to hit the front for the first time with the minutes ticking down, Best brushed aside one of the game's best defensive centres in Peta Hiku before finding Hunt on his inside with a sensational one handed pass as he was going down in a tackle. Remarkably, Best only convinced himself he was right to play last night at the captain's run on Thursday after leaving the field late with an ankle injury against the Bulldogs in round one.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure until yesterday if I would play,"he said.

"I thought after the Dogs game I was in trouble. My ankle blew up but the scans showed it was just some scar tissue and I'd stretched my ligaments. With plenty of physio, it just got better and better so I'm glad I could contribute tonight.

"I was actually dirty on myself last week and I owed Hymel a try tonight. He sprayed me for not passing with the line open against the Dogs so hopefully, I've made up for it."

O'Brien said Best's moments of brilliance were right from the top shelf.

"I think he passed the ball twice and they were two good passes," he said.

"He's a special kid, he's hard to handle and has great skill too and he was certainly one of the ones we were thinking at the end when we needed to find a try, he was in the conversation to get the ball to."

After somehow holding the Warriors at bay early, the Knights posted first points through hooker Jayden Brailey after he surged at the line from close range and forced his way over following some desperation from Mitchell Pearce in the build-up for a 6-0 at the 18 minute mark.

By halftime in was 8-6 after Ben Murdoch-Masila crossed for the Warriors and Mitch Barnett nailed a penalty.

The Warriors hit the front for the first time after tries to Adam Pompey and Ken Maumalo before Best and Hunt struck with five minutes left.

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