Some Andrew Johns magic helped Newcastle spoil the party for departing New Zealand Warrior Stacey Jones in Auckland with a 16-4 NRL victory on Saturday night.

The Knights were kept scoreless and on the back foot for the first 60 minutes, but their star playmaker sprung his side into action with a hand in three quick tries to kill off the fading Warriors.

It was the bottom-placed Knights fifth win in a row.

A combination of Johns and Brad Tighe caught the Warriors defenders napping in the midfield for an easy score while Johns was again instrumental in setting up Kurt Gidley with a short pass near the try line for the Knights' second four-pointer.

Clint Newton later muscled his way through three Warriors tacklers to score and, after missing the first two conversions, Johns split the posts.

The New Zealand side paid for their many missed opportunities, including four disallowed try attempts - three of them by man of the hour Jones.

It was a disappointing home finale for the club's greatest player in its 10-year history who leaves for France at the end of the season.

The Warriors had taken a 4-0 lead into halftime after failing to capitalise on persistent pushes into the Knights' territory and having two try attempts rejected by video referee Steve Nash.

After 20 minutes without a score, standoff Sione Faumuina atoned for losing the ball on the try line earlier by breaking through the line in a play which led to Jones popping up a kick for Manu Vatuvei, who muscled his way across the line.

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