The Newcastle Knights Under 20's and Reserve Grade sides are enjoying end-of-season celebrations after bowing out of the finals series at the weekend.
The Knights NYC side came back from a 20-4 half time deficit to almost pip the Broncos on Friday night at Allianz Stadium.
It was starting to look a bit one-sided when the Broncos extended their lead to 20 points early in the second half, but then a brilliant run and grubber kick by halfback, Hayden Loughrey allowed winger, Kainoa Gudgeon to dash down the sideline and score in the corner. Kurtis Dark bagged the conversion to make it 24-10.
Tries in the 63rd minute to Heath Gibbs and Brayden Musgrove in the 68th minute brought the scoreline back to 24-20 and the Knights looked like staging a boilover.
But the pendulum of the match swung the other way when prop Cameron King was forced into touch near the halfway line. The Broncos quickly capitalised and extended their lead to 30-22 thanks to a try from Joshua Fauide.
However, the brave Knights didn't throw in the towel, with a try in the corner to Cory Dennis five minutes from fulltime. Kurtis Dark wasn't able to convert and the final score was 30-26.
Meanwhile, the Knights weren't able to replicate their dominant display against the North Sydney Bears in week one of the Instrust Super Premiership finals series last week..
The Reserve Grade NSW Cup side traveled to Kogarah Jubilee Oval for last night's semi-final against the Warriors.
However, the Knights were always going to struggle in defense against the big New Zealand side, who piled on 12 unanswered points ahead of the half time break.
The Warriors streaked further ahead in the second half, going to a 30-nil lead despite some valiant efforts from the Newcastle side.
It wasn't unto the 76th minute that the Knights scored, with a try to Curtis McNaughton which was converted by Nick Meany to give the Warriors a 30-6 victory.
