![The Knights flew out of the sheds to blow the Raiders off the park at the start of the second half - scoring an unanswered 16 points in the opening 10 minutes. Picture Getty Images The Knights flew out of the sheds to blow the Raiders off the park at the start of the second half - scoring an unanswered 16 points in the opening 10 minutes. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/3b3065f3-fcf5-4c92-8f21-79c9f955e30b.jpg/r0_109_5472_3198_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A disastrous 10 minutes to start of the second half has cost the Canberra Raiders against an under-strength Newcastle.
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The Raiders were in a strong position at half-time, only to come out of the sheds and slip into neutral at Newcastle on Sunday.
They went from 14-8 up to 24-14 down in the blink of an eye - and to make matters worse had star Jack Wighton in the sin bin as well.
It cost the Green Machine a spot in the top eight, going down to a Knights side that was missing Kalyn Ponga (concussion).
The Raiders lost halfback Jamal Fogarty to a virus before the game, bringing Matt Frawley into the halves to accompany Wighton.
They'll be waiting for the match review committee to see if they'll lose their five-eighth as well.
Wighton was put on report twice - firstly for a high shot on Newcastle fullback Lachlan Miller and then again for a late hit on halfback Jackson Hastings.
The latter earned Wighton 10 minutes in the sin bin for catching Hastings high - which could be his main concern.
The Knights will be without lock Kurt Mann next week due to the NRL's new mandatory 11-day stand down.
He copped a hip to the head when he tried to tackle Raiders prop Joe Tapine and was taken straight off the ground - having been diagnosed as a category-one head knock.
![Knights winger Greg Marzhew scores the second of his two tries. Picture Getty Images Knights winger Greg Marzhew scores the second of his two tries. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/57f0878a-f2bf-417a-bd00-536b1146173b.jpg/r0_0_2736_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart described their defence during that 10 minutes after the break as inexcusable.
"That 10 minutes where they scored three tries was unacceptable from our point of view," Stuart said.
"It got their tails up, they built a lot of confidence and belief off that.
"It comes back to execution and not being good at areas that we had to be good at defensively.
"It was inexcusable some of the tries they scored."
Things looked bright for the Green Machine, with Hudson Young continuing to haunt his former club, cashing in on a late Elliott Whitehead offload to crash over from close range.
It continued his try-scoring streak against the Knights - scoring in each of his past four games against the club where he played his juniors.
Corey Harawira-Naera, again starting in the second row, had set the early scoring opportunity up with a one-on-one strip of Hymel Hunt.
In the absence of Fogarty, Harawira-Naera also assumed the goal-kicking duties.
Stuart felt Frawley did a good job coming in at the last minute, with Fogarty throwing up and unable to play.
"It's not an excuse, but it's a blow," he said.
"He trains all week. I felt sorry for Matty Frawls after being told this morning he;s going to have to play.
"But he's experienced enough Matty and he did a good job - he controlled what he had to do very well."
Knights winger Greg Marzhew scored two tries on his Newcastle debut as it was the home side's right edge causing the Raiders problems - usually it's a Ponga-led left.
Bradman Best did score, but Wighton responded with a try that highlighted his importance to the Green Machine.
![Raiders second-rower Hudson Young continued his run of scoring against Newcastle going. Picture Getty Images Raiders second-rower Hudson Young continued his run of scoring against Newcastle going. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/e6ebf616-a2d0-4840-9b06-5d66262b78d6.jpg/r0_153_3000_1846_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Marzhew's second, along with tries to centre Dane Gagai and second-rower Tyson Frizell, split the game open in the second half.
The Raiders will have to turn things around quickly as they welcome the reigning premier Penrith Panthers to Canberra Stadium on Friday.
AT A GLANCE
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 24 (Greg Marzhew 2, Bradman Best, Dane Gagai, Tyson Frizell tries; Lachlan Miller 2 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 14 (Hudson Young, Jack Wighton tries; Corey Harawira-Naera 2 goals; Matt Frawley two-point field goal) at Newcastle. Referee: Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 15,106.