Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett admits he's got no answers to poor form

WAYNE Bennett last night admitted he has no answers and doesn't know where his team is headed after the Knights stooped to a new low against Canberra.

WAYNE Bennett last night admitted he has no answers and doesn't know where his team is headed after the Knights stooped to a new low against Canberra.

Their fifth consecutive loss has plunged the club into wooden spoon territory, with Newcastle's start to the season Bennett's worst in 25 years of coaching at this level.

Fans even booed the Knights as the siren sounded.

The master coach seems almost resigned to not finding a way out of the hole they have dug for themselves.

Match centre: see how we covered the game.

"We are in a situation where you've just got to go with the cards you've been dealt," Bennett said.

"Whether you are a Knights fan or whether you are the coach or whatever you might be, I think everybody's feeling the pain. I don't know whether we are going backwards or going forwards right now. We're not going anywhere to be honest with you."

For Canberra's David Furner, the win could not have come at a better time.

Under pressure after a 40-0 thrashing at home a week ago, the stress on Furner would have intensified had his team lost again last night.

Instead, a Josh Dugan-inspired Raiders side took the heat off their coach with the 16-point win.

Dugan had a hand in three tries and appears to be growing into the five-eighth role.

Canberra took advantage of an error-riddled opening 10 minutes from the home side to open a 12-0 lead through tries to winger Edrick Lee and back-rower Joel Thompson.

Knights fullback Peter Mata'utia, deputising for Queensland's Darius Boyd, couldn't find a hole big enough to swallow him up after a horror start.

He dropped the ball in his side's opening set before kicking out on the full from the re-start after Lee's try.

Timana Tahu went close for the Knights before Dane Gagai posted his first try for the club with lovely footwork and speed which helped narrow the gap to 14-6.

A try from Willie Mason on the stroke of halftime bridged the gap to 20-12 and when Tyrone Roberts fired a cut-out pass for James McManus to strike, the Knights were somehow back in the match, trailing by four points.

But with 16 minutes remaining , the Knights' lack of respect for the football ultimately presented Canberra with their win.

Bench forward Trevor Thurling sliced through some weak defence to cross for his side's fourth try, ensuring further misery in the Hunter.

Fulltime score:

RAIDERS 32 (E Lee 2 B Harrison J Thompson T Thurling tries J Croker 6 goals) bt NEWCASTLE 16 (D Gagai W Mason J McManus tries T Roberts 2 goals) at Hunter Stadium. Referee: Jared Maxwell, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 15,114.

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