Is this a turning point for Newcastle?

After two-and-a-half years of heartache and having victory snatched from their grasp so many times, Nathan Brown’s young charges seemingly turned a corner in their 21-14 NRL win over St George Illawarra.

Before Saturday afternoon, the Knights had led nine times this year for a lone victory.

Just five weeks ago the Knights raced to a 28-10 lead over St Illawarra after 40 minutes only to go down 32-28.

That result, along with a last-gasp loss to Canterbury in round 18 has steeled the Knights as they continue a long and arduous rebuild.

“You look at our last two games, we probably played far better,” Brown said.

“To be honest we were a fair way off today, we had a lot more one-one-one misses, the finish to our sets, there was a probably four or five times they went 50 or 60 metres.

“For the younger guys to understand that scramble ‘D’, covering for your mate, that’s what rugby league is about.”

Ironically, it was close to the Knights’ worst performance of the year – they completed 28 of 36 sets, were wasteful inside the Dragons’ red zone and their fifth-tackle options often left a lot to be desired.

However the Dragons were far worse and their 17 of 33 completion rate will have alarm bells ringing for coach Paul McGregor.

McGregor said the loss, which leaves them on the edge of the top eight, was especially disappointing after his side’s 52-22 win over Manly last week.

“There’s too much between our best and our worst,” McGregor said.

“Today was a lot closer to our worst. There are a lot of disappointed people, I’m one of them.”