For Canberra it was pure delight but the taste of a 52-16 defeat was nothing but disgusting for Newcastle coach Rick Stone.

The Raiders, inspired by a hat-trick from recently re-signed star Josh Dugan, kept alive their NRL finals hopes with the big win at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

But it was a miserable afternoon for Stone and his Knights, with Dugan's first try coming on the back of an unlikely kick from prop David Shillington before the Raiders scorched their way to a 40-0 halftime lead.

Stone was devastating in his analysis of the Knights effort.

"This is disgusting and it's not what we want to stand for," Stone said post match.

"It just has a real bad smell and a weak underbelly about it."

The loss drives Newcastle's for-and-against deep into the red as the competition for a top eight spot tightens.

It also leaves Canberra and the Knights together on 18 points.

For Raiders mentor David Furner, this week's re-signing of Dugan paid off but it was only part of a masterful team effort from the Green Machine.

"The management have done a really good job to keep Joshy, he is a local boy," Furner said.

But it was the effort of his halves pair, Josh McCrone and Terry Campese, that really brought a smile to Furner's face.

In a man-of-the-match performance McCrone finally locked into combination with ex-NSW five eighth Campese.

In the 15th minute McCrone made it 22-0 after taking an offload from the in-form Shillington.

Skipper Campese had to wait until the second half for his own taste of the points when he made it 52-0.

From there the Raiders eased off and Newcastle were able to grab some late consolation through tries to Akuila Uate, Isaac De Gois and Adam McDougall.

"We're still not out of this semi-finals race yet," Campese said.

The Raiders face struggling Cronulla in Canberra next weekend while the Knights travel to Townsville to play North Queensland.

"Considering the place we are in, we need wins and we need to get a few in a row because we can start building momentum from there on in," Campese said.

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