An ounce of Akuila Uate magic and a tonne of Newcastle courage combined to power the injury-ravaged Knights to a 34-18 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday night.

Uate scored a hat-trick of tries - one of which will go down in Gosford folklore as one of the most amazing four-pointers ever scored on the Central Coast - as the Knights held off the Roosters despite an interchange bench which resembled a casualty ward.

As Cooper Vuna scored off a Ben Rogers kick with just over 20 minutes remaining to put the Knights up 28-18, the visitors were left with just one healthy body on the bench - Shannon McDonnell (knee) limping off to join the ailing Isaac De Gois (ribs) and Evarn Tuimavave, whose torn Achilles tendon has ended his season.

Newcastle coach Rick Stone may have suspected it wasn't going to be his night when he lost Junior Sa'u (hip) in the pre-game warm-up, that late change coming on top of the reshuffle which had seen Scott Dureau dropped, Kurt Gidley moved to halfback and McDonnell brought in at fullback.

But through all the adversity, the Knights never panicked, with Gidley controlling the ship brilliantly before eventually being shifted back to fullback for the final quarter of the match as Vuna scored his second four minutes form time to seal the result.

Gidley's performance at first-receiver would have given NSW selectors food for thought as they continue to seek an answer for the No.6 jumper, the Knights skipper clearly outpointing Roosters rival Todd Carney - who had a solid if unspectacular performance.

Uate and McDonnell scored inside the opening 16 minutes to put Newcastle up by 12, but it seemed they would go to the sheds all locked up when Carney put Mitchell Aubusson over and then bombed for Anasta to score, but they didn't count on some Uate brilliance.

From the restart after the Anasta try, Uate flew high to reel in the Cory Patterson skyscraper before beating four defenders in a stunning run to the line for an 18-12 lead at the break.

The Roosters shot themselves in the foot when Jason Ryles found himself sin-binned just after the restart for abusing referee Gavin Badger, Uate completing his hat-trick on the following set before Vuna's late double snuffed out any chance of a Roosters comeback.

"It's one of the gutsiest win I've been involved with in a long time - we haven't shown the appropriate resolve in some of the games that we've played," Stone said.

"We're very disappointed with how we let one go last week and we wanted to make a bit of a statement."

Stone acknowledged that Uate's effort right on halftime had shifted the momentum, and was a more accurate reflection of the Knights' first-half efforts.

"Aku's probably in a confident frame of mind at the moment and took them on," Stone said of the pivotal try.

"He's probably our shining light this season, he's come on in leaps and bounds."

Roosters coach Brian Smith was disappointed his side couldn't take advantage of Newcastle's injury woes, but it didn't stop him roasting referee Gavin Badger, who he claims has been a victim of the NRL's decision to go back to one referee controlling matches.

"I'd like to know if we're going to keep going with this ridiculous use of two referees that we're going through now," Smith said.

"Gavin Badger has been a terrific referee for a long time ... but he's slower than me.

"Why are we doing this to them, why are we making them go back to one referee doing all the leg work and the other guy out the back making no decisions.

"The game was just butt ugly from start to finish."

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