NRL: Knights crush Rabbitohs to seal playoffs spot

Akuila Uate of the Knights is tackled. Photo / Getty Images

Knights 40 Rabbitohs 24

Four tries from Akuila Uate helped Newcastle claim eighth place on the NRL ladder despite a second half fright in their 40-24 win over South Sydney at Ausgrid Stadium.

The NSW winger bagged two as the Knights piled on a 30-6 halftime lead and doubled his tally with trademark devastating runs to the line to help his side into the playoffs beginning next weekend.

In the process he equalled the club record for tries in a single match.

The virtual elimination final was one of the most anticipated games of the year, but it took Souths until well into the second half to wake up and make the ground record 30,729 fans nervous at 10 points behind with seven minutes left.

The Knights' second-half fadeout will be a big concern but Rick Stone's side cannot realistically miss the finals, with Canterbury needing to beat Canberra by a virtually impossible 90 points on Sunday to pip them on points differential.

Newcastle are likely to travel to Melbourne next weekend for a qualifying final against the Storm at AAMI Park, although unexpected results could deliver Manly the minor premiership on Sunday.

As well as Uate, Isaac De Gois, Antonio Kaufusi and Chris Houston also scored tries, Kurt Gidley booted five from six and retiring centre Adam MacDougall one from one.

For Souths, Nathan Merritt scored two with Shaun Corrigan and Chris McQueen also scoring four-pointers and Chris Sandow kicking four from four.

Newcastle snapped a worrying late season three-match losing streak to ensure coach Stone enjoys a finals experience before becoming Wayne Bennett's assistant next season.

The Rabbitohs' year had begun promisingly with the signing of Test centre Greg Inglis but he was among a host of big names missing through injury on Friday night.

Souths missed the equivalent of a representative forward pack for most of the season and new coach Michael Maguire will also need to deal with the loss of standout halfback Sandow to Parramatta when he takes the reins for next season.

The Knights piled on five first-half tries on a wave of momentum before Uate's third made it 34-6 ten minutes after the break.

The Rabbitohs scored through Merritt six minutes later to make it 34-12 and when McQueen went over after an Issac Luke bust in the 64th minute, they had given themselves a sniff.

Merritt's second in the 73rd made it 34-24 before Uate picked up the scraps of a kick in the final minute and ran 95m for his fourth.

In a fitting last home game for 36-year-old MacDougall, the former Test back set up two of Uate's tries with clever offloads.

There was at least as much drama off the field as on it, with play stopped when an ambulance was required for a patron during the second half and police leading away two fans after a fight broke out in the western concourse.

NEWCASTLE 40 (A Uate 4 I De Gois C Houston A Kaufusi tries K Gidley 5 A MacDougall goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 24 (N Merritt 2 S Corrigan C McQueen tries C Sandow 4 goals) at Ausgrid Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Shayne Hayne. Crowd: 30,729.