Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore has welcomed the week off after watching his side move to within 80 minutes of a grand final berth with a less-than-convincing 26-12 qualifying final win over Newcastle.

The time off will also give injured halfback Brett Kimmorley more time to recover from his fractured cheekbone.

The Bulldogs pulled away late to move straight into week three of the NRL finals, when it is expected Kimmorley will be rushed straight back into a side which struggled without his leadership.

It wasn't until Hazem El Masri potted a penalty goal with 13 minutes remaining that the Bulldogs went beyond a converted try in front.

"There's been a fair amount of publicity surrounding we didn't have Noddy, but I never stopped believing that, with or without him, we could get the job done," Moore said.

"It's put ourselves in a tremendous position with a weekend off.

"(Kimmorley's) not certain but he saw the specialist on Friday and it was fairly positive report."

Rookie Newcastle coach Rick Stone was left regretting the decision to use injured pair Isaac De Gois and Zeb Taia, the move backfiring badly with De Gois limping off after re-injuring his knee in just the second tackle of the match.

"It's a gamble that we took and one that obviously didn't pay off," Stone said.

"That hurts early in the game. No doubt it had an effect."

The Bulldogs pounded the depleted Knights' line early in the game but no points were forthcoming, Kimmorley's absence telling as stand-in halfback Ben Roberts sent a pass that floated untouched over the sideline.

Newcastle weren't as wasteful with Junior Sau powering over on their first foray into the Bulldogs' red zone.

The home side continued to struggle for guidance with Greg Eastwood and then David Stagg - who started at five-eighth in place of the benched Daniel Holdsworth - forced into kicking duties, but they finally broke through when Josh Morris latched onto a Bryson Goodwin fling back inside.

The Bulldogs looked like they had broken the back of the visitors when Luke Patten scored twice in the space of six minutes before the break - the first coming off a powerful run and flick pass from newly crowned rookie of the year Jamal Idris.

The home side couldn't shake the dogged Knights, who got themselves back into the contest when Scott Dureau touched down after a clever Jarrod Mullen kick was toed through by Chris Houston.

Mullen's good work was undone when he knocked on from the kick-off, but it wasn't until Wes Naiqama stripped Michael Ennis to hand El Masri a gift two points, that the home side kicked away again before Ben Hannant crashed over late.

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