Dane Gagai and Starford To'a sin binned for fiery melee as Knights struggle in dour loss to Tigers

A fiery melee between former Knights centre Starford To'a and Dane Gagai breathed life into a match with limited big moments as the Tigers continued their impressive rise.

In the 53rd minute, To'a put Gagai on his back with a monster tackle before the Tigers centre gave him a slight push on the ground.

Gagai didn't take a liking to it as both men engaged in push and shove before a number of players joined in.

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Gerard Sutton then put both players in the bin with the Tigers leading 14-0 at the time.

"(They're off for) the fact that it sparked something pretty big," Billy Slater said on Nine.

More space seemingly sparked the Knights into gear for a moment when Bradman Best and Greg Marzhew combined for a line break two minutes later.

The next play on the last tackle, Kalyn Ponga tried to step around the Tigers defence but couldn't finish it off.

"This crowd is desperate to scream ... they have deadset bored the tears out of them with the amount of dropped ball," Brad Fittler said after the failed attacking raid.

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The first try in Newcastle didn't come until the 18th minute when Sunia Turuva continued his try-scoring form.

To'a then had his own try, pushing past some feeble Newcastle defence.

Knights fans' frustrations didn't stop there as Jahream Bula grubbered behind the defence and caught Kalyn Ponga just slightly out of position to make it 14-0.

"They are so far off the pace today the Knights," Andrew Johns said.

The misery continued for the Knights when Adam Doueihi kicked a penalty goal after the sin bins. He then had his own try when Gagai and To'a were off the field.

Fortunately for Newcastle, a lucky break came with four minutes left when the Tigers were denied a try. Tallyn De Silva looked as if he'd earned his own four-pointer and was awarded it until the Bunker intervened.

After a drop from Greg Marzhew on the wing, Turuva was judged to have impeded him by pushing Bradman Best into the contest.

Both Billy Slater and Andrew Johns didn't agree with the call.

A consolation came with just seconds remaining when Fletcher Sharpe grubbered off a scrum. Turuva couldn't pick the ball up cleanly and Sharpe followed his own kick to score. Ponga missed the conversion with the Tigers winning 20-4.