Canberra turned to its star Indigenous playmaker on Sunday to win 28-22 in a pivotal come-from-behind win at Newcastle to remain in the hunt for the last finals spot left.

The hosts looked on track to triumph from leading 22-8 at half-time, but the team that has won just twice at home failed to score a point after the break.

Wiradjuri man Jack Wighton broke a 20-minute deadlock, keeping his cool amid a mad scramble for the loose ball.

Raiders prop Josh Papali'i broke through the Knights' defence to run near the tryline from behind the half until throwing a wild pass that bobbed up for Wighton to sweep onto for the match-winning 71st minute try.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Edrick Lee, who earned a reprieve for the match following the club taking disciplinary action against two of his teammates, almost set up the last-gasp equaliser.

Video footage denied Lee's third try in what was the last play of the game after dropping the ball reaching out for the corner.

Lee returned closer to the form that had extracted five tries in the one day last month, firstly off a simple play of multiple dummy runners that placed the former Raider on the end of an overlap to put the Knights on the board first in the 5th minute.

The fourth Newcastle try - and Lee's second - in the 36th minute was a high-ball mark and put down in one motion.

Sebastian Kris kept the Raiders in the game after the Knights threatened to pull away on the back of running in four tries to one.

The Torres Strait Islander burst through the line following Canberra's go-forward and quick lateral movement in the 10th minute to reply to Lee's opener.

Kris equalled Lee's earlier take on the other side of the interval, passing through a pack under a bomb to score a 42nd minute try.

The boot of Jamal Fogarty proved the difference in the final result after the Yegambeh man converted four kicks from six shots.

Nicho Hynes has continued to pay back Cronulla for his signature this year, recording a Sharks personal-best 20 points in their 40-6 victory over Manly.

The Wiradjuri man had once tallied up 22 points last season for Melbourne Storm, but the two-try, six-goal performance on Saturday bettered the earlier 16 points that had included six goals in the third outing for his new club.

Hynes opened the account for the visitors in the 7th minute, following up the erratic kick that bounced off the padding of the goal posts, onto his leg and into his hands.

The halfback also set up his own second try on Saturday evening from a 40-20 sideline kick, accepting an unmarked pass on the next play from the scrum restart.

Penrith rode a late 78th-minute winner to survive a scare against South Sydney 26-22.

The defending premiers were in danger of dropping a third game from their past five appearances amid Alex Johnson continuing his glut of try-scoring on Thursday night.

The Torres Strait Islander was once again left unmarked up the left wing, crossing the line in the 17th minute from some lightning quick Rabbitohs passes.

The dangerous Latrell Mitchell drew extra Panthers defenders into a tackle and found Cody Walker running into a gap before the Yuin and Bundjalung man sold a dummy, ensuring Souths went try-for-try with Penrith across the opening 35 minutes.

Johnson had tied up the scores in the 69th minute, the Torres Strait Islander hit with a ball out wide and he darted to the corner for a 13th try from his last seven games.

St George-Illawarra looked in danger of a home loss to Gold Coast after being reduced to 12 men late in the second half on Sunday.

But that send-off seemed to spur the Dragons to three unanswered tries on their way to collecting an exciting 46-26 win.

Earlier in the day where Wollongong fans witnessed a battle of fluctuating fortunes, Dharawal man Jayden Sullivan crossed near the line from dummy half in the 28th minute to stretch the Dragons' lead to 20-6.

Then side-stepping prop David Fifita beat five men to score in the 33rd minute.

Form winger Brent Naden watched Sydney Roosters cross 10 times before traversing over for Wests Tigers' only try in what was one of the most lopsided NRL games seen.

The Roosters won 72-6 and lead by 60 at nearly a point-a-minute before the Wiradjuri man touched down for a fifth time from his fifth straight appearance.

Naden came out of the line, momentarily juggled an intercept pass and ran 80 metres to under the black dot in the 72nd minute.

In other NRL matches full of huge margins, Parramatta ran away 42-6 from old rivals Canterbury, Melbourne Storm embarrassed Brisbane 60-12 to put the Broncos finals' push in doubt and North Queensland walked over New Zealand Warriors 48-4.

• Story by Andrew Mathieson