Newcastle Knights centre Bradman Best has staked his claim for NSW State of Origin selection with a sterling performance to help his side hold off gutsy Wests Tigers in Tamworth.
The Knights' 20-14 win lifted them level on points with the eighth-placed Sydney Roosters, but injuries and disciplinary issues could cost both sides as they mull mounting absentees.
The struggling Tigers put on a spirited, but patchy, display to end their New England residency, left to rue defensive lapses and ill-discipline.
Saturday afternoon brought the Tigers' final game in the country music capital, after they announced an end to their bush footy deal on Thursday, with only one win out of five games at Scully Park to celebrate.
Their seventh loss in nine this season leaves them languishing in the NRL's bottom three and sweating on injuries to Starford To'a (hamstring) and John Bateman (pectoral).
Centre Bradman Best was in top form for the Knights, the one-time NSW representative having a hand in two tries and four line-breaks and earning a post-game rev up from his coach.
"He was hands down our best player out there," Adam O'Brien said.
"I know (the NSW Blues) have got a team to pick in a couple of weeks. I reckon he's done himself a lot of favours there."
But the victory came at a cost for the Novocastrians.
Tyson Gamble was withdrawn at halftime with a suspected broken foot, while Daniel Saifiti could face a stint on the sidelines after he was sin-binned and placed on report for a high tackle on Lachlan Galvin.
The Tigers got out to an early lead through an Isaiah Papali'i try, but the Knights struck back after Jahream Bula was sin-binned for an illegal strip on Dylan Lucas.
The Tigers' disciplinary issues continued when Papali'i conceded a penalty for tripping Leo Thompson five metres out from the tryline. He was lucky to escape further censure for the cynical play.
Newcastle captain Dane Gagai found Enari Tuala with a deft grubber on the stroke of halftime to put the Knights in front, but his wayward kicking kept the Tigers in the game, with just two points separating the teams at the break.
The Tigers came out strongly and looked like they had earned a repeat set when a perfectly placed Apisai Koroisau kick stopped dead in the Knights’ in-goal.
But a somnolent Tigers chase let Best sneak around their right edge and put through young fullback David Armstrong to score his second NRL try.
"At the moment we're just not learning from some of those mistakes, which has been frustrating and disappointing," Tigers coach Benji Marshall said.
"(There are) moments in games where we seem to put pressure on ourselves, and instead of applying pressure to the other team, we make it hard for ourselves. The game was there for us today to win."
Best crossed for a try of his own with 16 minutes left to settle the Knights' nerves, shrugging off two Tigers defenders to score in the corner.
Brent Naden reignited the Tigers' hopes late on, scoring a try against the 12-man Knights with one minute remaining to bring the game within a converted try, but it proved too little, too late.
