Live coverage has concluded, please click here for the full wrap.
Warriors 16 Knights 24
Warriors - Pompey, Watene-Zelezniak & Vailea tries, Walsh conversion & penalty
Knights - Frizell, Tuala 2 & Lee tries, Clifford 4 conversions
Fulltime
40th minute - Warriors shift left, desperately looking for a miracle. They go right and Vailea is held up in goal.
Johnson kicks across field and finds touch - that will hand the win to Newcastle, their fourth of the season.
Warriors lose four straight.
39th minute - Lee loses the ball in a tackle, but the Knights challenge. Replays show he lost it cold, so unsuccessful challenge.
Warriors have a scrum 20 metres out, but Knights are penalised for kick the ball out of the halfbacks hands.
38th minute - Johnson runs from dummy half, but they're still in their own half. Harris-Tavita runs on the last and Montoyga puts in a long kick that sits in goal, but Ponga returns to field of play.
37th minute - Klemmer makes halfway for the Knights and Barnett makes extra metres. Montoya leaps to claim Clifford's high kick.
36th minute - Warriors building an attack, but Harris-Tavita's pass to Murdoch-Masila is forward.
35th minute - Johnson finds DWZ with a long pass, but he can't find his way to the line. Johnson kicks to the goal area and Gagai bats it dead.
Harris runs the dropout from halfway.
34th minute - Afoa runs the dropout back. Vailea looks dangerous out right.
33rd minute - Warriors go right and Walsh threatens to break through. Johnson kicks to the goal area and Ponga bats it dead for a dropout.
32nd minute - Montoya takes Clifford's high ball and wins a penalty in the tackle. Milford chats to the ref and earns another 10 metres on the penalty.
31st minute - Warriors need to score next and soon. They chase the kickoff hard and keep the Knights in their own half.
29th minute - TRY to Tuala
Just before Montoya rejoins the contest, Milford puts a kick to the goal area and DWZ can't retreat fast enough to beat Tuala to the touchdown. Clifford bends the conversion between the uprights, KNI 24-16
28th minute - Warriors are penalised at the ruck and Knights can clear. Saifiti crosses halfway.
27th minute - Harris reaches halfway on the fourth tackle and Lui runs strongly. Johnson kicks high, but Lee is under it.
26th minute - Milford darts over halfway, but Tevaga is called to the sideline for a head check.
Clifford kicks long and Walsh escorts it dead.
25th minute - Johnson kicks high and Ponga gathers the kind bounce. Tuala runs, but Murchie and Tevaga clash heads - Murchie doesn't get up, but is eventually led off.
24th minute - Klemmer rumbles towards hlafway, Milford enters Warriors territory and Milford puts up a high kick that Walsh catches.
23rd minute - Johnson kicks and it bounces back for him to regather. Still last play, Pompey rises high for a CHT kick to the corner, but can't bring it down.
22nd minute - Tevaga runs the dropout from halfway and Lui takes his first run.
21st minute - A long pass from Frizell goes astray and Murchie gathers for the Warriors. Johnson kicks to the goal area with DWZ and Lee is pinned for a dropout.
20th minute - Crossland kicks and Walsh covers the bounce, but Harris is penalised for impeding Frizell.
19th minute - Lui makes his Warriors debut, as Montoya leaves. Knights deep into Warriors half early and Ponga slips a couple of tackles.
18th minute - DWZ skirts right and Harris straightens. Walsh kicks and Young falls over.
Montoya is whistled for high contact, as Young tries to get up, so he's sent to the bin and Knights can clear.
17th minute - Johnson's hurried kick bounces away from Young and chasers are in hot pursuit. Montoya is under Clifford's high kick.
16th minute - Clifford kicks high to the corner and Walsh is safe. Strong run from Afoa.
15th minute - Walsh kicks off and Saifiti runs the ball back. Randall makes halfway from dummy half.
13th minute - TRY to Tuala
Ponga kicks off and Harris-Tavita spills it metres out from his own line. That's a coachkiller!
From the scrum, Ponga runs left and puts Tuala across, running on an angle. Clifford slots the conversion, KNI 18-16
10th minute - TRY to Watene-Zelezniak
Pene runs the dropout back from halfway. Aitken offloads late and Otukolo keeps the ball alive.
Johnson kicks to the corner and DWZ is waiting there to score. Walsh sprays his sideline conversion left, WAR 16-12
Ninth minute - Johnson finds Harris on his shoulder and Warriors shift left, where Pompey again beats Gagai. Johnson puts a kick to the goal area and DWZ tackles Ponga for a line dropout.
Eighth minute - Clifford's bomb is caught by Montoya. Milford is penalised for a high tackle, so Warriors can clear their half.
Seventh minute - Knights bursting upfield and Croker crosses halfway.
Sixth minute - Warriors on attack, but Johnson can't gather a pass and drops it cold.
Fifth minute - Fitzgibbon strips the ball from Pene, but Warriors win a scrum in their own half.
Fourth minute - Harris-Tavita's leftfoot kick is taken by Lee. Frizell crosses halfway, but loses the ball in a tackle.
Third minute - Saifiti reaches halfway for the Knights and Clifford kicks to Walsh, who is safe underneath. Good carry from Vailea.
Second minute - Warriors reach halfway and Johnson's kick is handled easily by Ponga.
First minute - Walsh kicks off and Saifiti runs the ball back for the Knights. Clifford kicks from his 40 and Walsh is challenged by Young.
Halftime
40th minute - Knights trying to break out of their half, with Fitzgibbon carrying strongly. Clifford is brought down, but goes again.
Clifford tries a field goal for the halftime lead, but pushes it left, as the siren sounds.
38th minute - Off the scrum, Walsh takes the pass at speed, but is flattened by Milford. Warriors move left and Pompey threatens to score again.
When the shift right, Walsh tries to offload, but the ball goes loose and Knights can clear.
37th minute - Young dents the Warriors defence, but loses the ball in the tackle. Warriors will have great attacking position late in the half.
36th minute - Afoa makes halfway and Johnson bombs again, but no-one is challenging Ponga.
35th minute - Knights can't reach halfway again and Walsh is safe under the high kick.
34th minute - Warriors are deep in the Knights half, Johnson puts a kick towards the tryline, but Lee is able to gather.
33rd minute - Klemmer reaches halfway for the Knights and Milford challenges the defence, but Randall spills a pass.
32nd minute - Johnson kicks high, but Ponga is untroubled underneath. Knights win a penalty in the tackle.
31st minute - Warriors kick off and Jacob Saifiti hits the ball up. Knights can't reach halfway and Clifford kicks deep to Montoya.
29th minute - TRY to Lee
When Knights move the ball left, Ponga provides a nice touch-pass to Tuala, who puts Lee over in the corner untouched. Clifford converts, 12-12
28th minute -Murchie has the ball knocked out of his grasp in a tackle and Knights go back on attack.
27th minute - Knights attack fizzles, when they lose the ball 10 metres out from the Warriors line.
25th minute - Walsh's kickoff clears the deadball line - not for the first time this season - so Knights have the ball on halfway.
24th minute - TRY to Frizzell
Ponga puts Tuala into space, but DWZ brings him down. When the ball shifts right, Clifford puts a kick into the goal area and Frizell is the first there to score.
Replays confirm he barely forced it, but good enough. Cliford converts, WAR 12-6
23rd minute - Knights on attack and Ponga is a threat every time he has the ball.
22nd minute - Knights kick off and Afoa runs it back. Lussick skips over halfway and Harris-Tavita kicks off the side of his boot. Knights use their captain's challenge to question whether the ball caught the line and replays show it did, so they get the ball inside Warriors half.
20th minute - Walsh stays upright this time and slots the penalty from in front of the posts, WAR 12-0
19th minute - Pompey threatens the line to the left and Harris-Tavita kicks towards the posts. Johnson gathers, but appears to lose the ball before he can force it.
Replay confirms he did not force cleanly, but Warriors have a penalty for high contract on Johnson.
18th minute - Clifford kicks early for the Knights and DWZ hits it up, losing it in the tackle, but batting it back for Montoya to gather.
17th minute - Aitken spins in a tackle and makes a few extra metres. Harris-Tavita kicks early and finds the Knights 10...
16th minute - Ponga rushes into the attack and almost puts Tuala through a gap. Knights get a set restart inside the 10, but Barnett throws a low pass that Clifford can only deflect forward.
15th minute - Harris runs it straight and Walsh puts a high kick that bounces, but Randall eventually secures it for the Knights.
13th minute - Ponga comes into the Knights backline with the tryline beckoning and throws a shocker to Lee, who has no chance of catching that around his ankles.
12th minute - Montoya rushes of the line and misses Gagai, but Harris-Tavita has his back. Milford puts a kick through and Johnson is tackled back into his goal area.
11th minute - Warriors have been faultless through the opening 10 minutes, but Johnson puts his kick out on the full to blow that record. Knights in good field position.
Eighth minute - TRY to Vailea
Warriors win a penalty and Johnson kicks deep into Knights half.
Tevaga heads towards the posts and when the ball shifts left, Johnson and Walsh both handle to put the defence in two minds, allowing Vailea to ghost through and score.
Walsh loses his footing on the conversion and slips over, WAR 10-0
Seventh minute - Murodch-Masila takes the first hit-up from the Knights kickoff.
Fifth minute - TRY to Pompey
Lussick darts over halfway and Warriors are hot on attack. Montoya flirts with the sideline, Murdoch-Masila heads towards the posts and Warriors have a set restart.
Ball shifts left and Pompey scores a soft try, propping off his left twice. There's some question about whether he forced successfully and whether Aitken impeded defenders, but the try is duly confirmed.
Walsh converts with a wobbly old kick, WAR 6-0
Fourth minute - Future Warrior Barnett reaches halfway for the Knights, but their attack ends, when Milford throws a forward pass to Fitzgibbon.
Third minute - Lussick reaches halfway for the Warriors and Johnson bombs to Ponga, who catches without a challenge.
Second minute - Johnson kicks into the corner at the end of the first set and Lee throws a real hospital pass to Ponga, with defenders advancing. He manages to retain the ball.
First minute - Knights kick off and Montoya takes the first hit-up.
Late change sees new signing Dunamis Lui promoted to the interchange today.
4:59pm - The good news is the Warriors have won four from four at their adopted Recliffe home this season. Pre-game formalities acknowledge Indigenous Round, with a prominent Aboriginal and Māori influence.
*****
Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the NRL clash between NZ Warriors and Newcastle Knights at Redcliffe's Moreton Daily Stadium.
The soap opera that has become the Warriors' 2022 season took a couple more twists this week, with the 'he said, she said' intrigue over Matt Lodge's mid-season departure and the decision by Chanel Harris-Tavita to step away from rugby league to sample real life for a while.
Who can blame him?
Lodge's exit takes on added importance, with front-row running mate Addin Fonua-Blake injured out of this game against Newcastle, leaving his team very thin up the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Harris-Tavita returns from a month sidelined by a ruptured testicle - honestly, you can't make this stuff up - replacing Daejarn Asi, who had performed well in his absence, after joining the club midseason.
Newcastle have struggled this season and sit just one sport off the bottom of the table with the worst points differential in the competition, but the Warriors can put themselves back in the playoff picture with victory tonight.
TAB Odds: Knights $1.83, Warriors $1.92
Warriors: 1-Reece Walsh, 2-Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3-Viliami Vailea, 4-Adam Pompey, 5-Marcelo Montoya, 6-Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7-Shaun Johnson, 8-Ben Murdoch-Masila, 9-Freddy Lussick, 10-Jazz Tevaga, 11-Euan Aitken, 12-Tohua Harris, 13-Jack Murchie
Interchange: 14-Taniela Otukolo, 15-Aaron Pene, 16-Bunty Afoa, 17-Eliesa Katoa
Newcastle: 1- Kalyn Ponga, 2-Edrick Lee, 3-Dane Gagai, 4-Enari Tuala, 5-Dominic Young, 6-Anthony Milford, 7-Jake Clifford, 8-David Klemmer, 9-Chris Randall, 10-Daniel Saifiti, 11-Tyson Frizell, 12-Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 13-Mitchell Barnett
Bench: 14-Phoenix Crossland, 15-Jacob Saifiti, 16-Leo Thompson, 17-Mat Croker
More to come
'Proud of him': Warriors coach Brown defends Harris-Tavita decision to step away
NZ Warriors coach Nathan Brown has vehemently defended the decision by star half Chanel Harris-Tavita to step away from the NRL next year to pursue other interests.
The Auckland club has tried to nail down Harris-Tavita's service beyond his current contract, which ends this season, but he has repeatedly turned them down, revealing that he will take time off to travel and write next year instead.
Despite a recent deluge of half signings to his roster, Brown obviously rates Harris-Tavita, 23, highly and was desperate to retain him for the future - but stopped short of trying to persuade him to stay.
"Anyone who tries to talk him out of it is not doing the right thing by the kid," said Brown. "You've got to want to do this sport - it's a difficult sport, the NRL.
"It's a hard business to play if you're not mentally focused or don't want to do it. Chanel is really focused on finishing the year off strong, then he'll travel... he may play rugby league again or he may not.
"You don't want to try and convince people to do something if their heart's not in it - it's not the right thing to do."
Harris-Tavita has spent the past month recovering from a ruptured testicle suffered during the Warriors' record 70-10 Anzac Day defeat to Melbourne Storm, but has been named in the starting line-up against Newcastle Knights on Saturday.
Earlier this week, he told AAP of his plans for a 'gap year' in his rugby league career.
"I just think it's the best decision for me," he said. "Each time I told a family member or friend, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
"Deep down, I knew I didn't want to sign another contract and I was trying to hide that feeling from everyone, including myself."
Brown insists Harris-Tavita has his best years ahead of him, but deserves respect for his courageous decision to take a break.
"I'm really proud of Chanel," he said. "We made an offer - I'm not going to talk the dollars, but it's a lot more than the average young kid gets in the working world and a lot more than most adults.
"He also had two other clubs actively looking at him and for them to get him from us, they would have had to offer more than we were offering him.
"To turn down the money and go into no-man's land is a big, big decision, and credit to the kid for doing what he wants to do. You just don't play rugby league or sport because you're good at it, you've got to want to do it.
"We're all proud of him, to be honest with you."
Despite losing Ash Taylor to medical retirement and Kodi Nikorima as a mid-season transfer to South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Warriors are still well covered for halves, with the recent arrivals of former North Queensland Cowboy Daejarn Asi and Sydney Roosters junior Ronald Volkman.
Next season, Manly utility Dylan Walker and Cronulla youngster Luke Metcalf will also assist their cause.
