Former Fiji Bati Akuila Uate crossed for a hat trick, as Newcastle thrashed Marika Koroibete's West Tigers 42-10 to close out round one of the NRL at Hunter Stadium last night.
Uate celebrated his four year contract extension at the Knights with three of the home side's seven tries.
The highlight was his opening try as the Blues star caught the ball on his own 10 metre line, shrugged off three feeble tackles and raced down 60 meters to go over in the right corner.
The Tigers' points came via tries to Adam Blair and Tim Moltzen, while Benji Marshall added a lone conversion.
Story by: Filipe Naikaso.
