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The Warriors have returned to Australia's country music capital, Tamworth, and shocked Newcastle with a 36-6 victory to keep their top-eight hopes alive.
The Warriors have used their "home-town advantage" to hand Newcastle a 36-6 defeat - their biggest of the season - and edge closer to an unlikely place in the NRL top eight.
The Warriors returned to Scully Park in Tamworth, the northwest NSW regional city that adopted the team when they first arrived back in Australia to restart the NRL competition.
With a sign at the ground saying "Welcome home Tamworth Warriors", the NRL nomads, who wear the town's post code on their jerseys, embraced the love of 2000 local fans in their Saturday afternoon clash.
Running in five tries to one, the lopsided result ended a three-game winning streak for the Knights, who remain in seventh on the ladder, with the Warriors now up to ninth.
Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who scored two second half tries, said his team were determined to play well in front of their adopted Australian home.
"It was something we wanted to do for Tamworth, we wanted to play for the town," Tuivasa-Sheck said.
"I'm glad we came and put out the performance for everyone who supported us here."
Their coach Todd Payten said he sensed a big game was in the offing.
"There's just a good feeling around the place at the moment, there's certainly some confidence and belief and that's a pretty lethal combination," Payten said.
When asked if they could play finals, Payten said it was "possible" but he would try to keep a lid on the hype.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien was bitterly disappointed with his team's lacklustre effort.
"It's quite embarrassing for us as a club to have that so we need to have some honest conversations in and around that," O'Brien said.
"I don't know whether we looking into finals and listening to all that hype but it was a poor attitude.
"In that second half they just poured through us - it was really, really disappointing."
Warriors winger Adam Pompey scored a try in each half, with centre Peta Hiku managing a backhand flick pass on both occasions to set up the four-pointer.
Pompey opened the scoring in sixth minute before the Warriors got out to an 8-0 lead after a Chanel Harris-Tavita penalty.
Newcastle closed the margin to 6-8 by halftime when centre Gehamat Shibasaki won the leap for a Mitchell Pearce bomb but there was little else to celebrate for the injury-hit Knights.
Tuivasa-Sheck left Pearce clutching at thin air when he stepped around him in the 50th minute, before adding a second try in the 73rd minute.
They capped the win with Jazz Tevaga crossing for their fifth and final four-pointer.
