The Toyota Forklift Raiders went down to the Knights 30-28 in a final for the ages that spanned 90 minutes and were separated by only two points.
The match in Newcastle saw the lead change on three occasions before a 88th-minute penalty conversion handed the Knights the win.
A great first set after some aggressive runs from Zac Woolford and Ata Mariota put the Raiders on the front foot early.
A nasty collision between Hohepa Puru and Jacob Saifiti left Puru worse for wear as he was taken from the field with a HIA in the third minute.
A Category 1 concussion ruled Puru out for the rest of the game as Emre Guler took his place on the field.
The Knights were able to outnumber the Raiders on their left edge, leaving Greg Marzhew vacant on the wing as he opened the scoring for the afternoon.
Kalyn Ponga converted the try to lead 6-0 after seven minutes.
A much-needed penalty for the Green Machine helped hand the Raiders some crucial field position.
A difficult kick from Jamal Fogarty resulted in a repeat set for the Raiders after a knock-on from Bradman Best.
The Raiders continued to pepper the Knights try line with Ata Mariota being held up in goal, only a blade of grass away from a try.
A forward pass from a Nick Cotric linebreak handed the Knights a scrum twenty metres out from their line.
Coming out of the scrum, a huge tackle from Jack Wighton and Matt Frawley on Dane Gagai forced a dropped ball on tackle zero.
Hudson Young was able to pick up the scraps who then offloaded to James Schiller as he opened the scoring for the Raiders.
Jamal Fogarty made a kick from the touchline look easy as he tied the game up at six-all 20 minutes into the game.
Fogarty was able to control the momentum of the game due to his precise kicking driving the Knights as far back as possible.
The Raiders were on the hunt once again shifting the ball quickly but a loose carry from Matt Timoko handed Marzhew an intercept with ninety metres in front of him.
It was Cotric and Wighton leading the chase with the latter bringing Marzhew down thirty metres out.
Knights shifted the ball to the other side of the field as Gagai had the line in sight but Hudson Young had other plans forcing a knock-on in the in-goal, saving a try.
A neat grubber from Frawley minutes later saw the Raiders force a dropout 32 minutes into the first half.
The Knights elected to go short with the drop out, with Trey Mooney coming down with the ball fending off two opponents as he found the line to score first try in his five-game career.
As the first half came to a close, the Raiders continued to pile on the pressure forcing another error from the Knights who kicked the ball out on the full with a minute left on the clock.
A well-orchestrated play down the Raiders left edge saw Wighton hold up the ball for the perfect amount of time before gifting Schiller his second try of the afternoon.
Fogarty converted once again from the sideline as they went into the sheds with a ten-point lead over the Knights.
As the game resumed for the second half, Wighton was put on report for an alleged bite on Tyson Gamble but remained on the field.
The Knights later broke the Raiders line down their left-hand side as Ponga scored beside the posts to reduce the margin to four points.
A dummy play from Ponga broke the Raiders defensive line, followed by a cutout ball to Dominic Young who scored to tie the game.
A try conversion from Ponga handed the Knights the lead for the second time.
The Knights targeted that edge again, as Young found space on the wing before finding Gagai on the inside to extend their lead again.
Ponga struck the post to keep the scores at 22-16.
The Raiders were afforded an attacking set, as Frawley put up a well-weighted kick for Schiller who tapped it back but possessed by the opposition, Gamble.
Gamble took off only to find Young on the wing who scored a runaway try.
A conversion from Ponga extended the lead to 12 points.
The Raiders were able to get one back thanks to a dummy play from Frawley diving for the line to reduce the margin to a converted try with 14 minutes left.
With the minutes ticking down and a try separating the two teams, the Raiders did everything they could to bring the game level.
A strong run from Joseph Tapine saw Elliott Whitehead backing up on the inside who found an arm free for Starling who evaded an opponent to hand the Raiders a lifeline.
A Fogarty conversion brought the scores level with two minutes remaining.
A high tackle on Tapine with forty seconds on the clock saw Raiders gifted one chance at sealing the game, but a rush from the Knights shut down Fogarty in his attempt at a field goal.
The scores were locked at 28-all at full-time forcing the game to extra time, with two five-minute halves separating a week two finals berth.
The Raiders forwards were able to pack the scrum with two seconds left in the first half of extra time, but Fogarty’s kick was smothered as the siren sounded.
A kick that struck the outside of the book from Fogarty found touch on the full, handing Knights crucial possession of the ball.
An offside call on Hudson Young resulted in a penalty conversion, inevitably winning the game after 90 minutes of football.
