It didn't start like the thrillers of last year, but it certainly finished like them as the lowly Newcastle Knights sprung a 34-20 upset on the Canberra Raiders at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.

Canberra's second-half fadeout in front of 10,997 fans leaves the Green Machine ruing a third straight defeat and a disappointing 4-6 win-loss record.

Newcastle's lone win of the season was fast becoming a distant memory with the Knights staring down the barrel of an eighth consecutive loss.

But it was that win that provided Newcastle with the belief they could overrun a rampaging Raiders outfit, and three second-half tries in 10 minutes gave the Knights their third win in 36 games.

By their own admission the Raiders were poor in their last outing and a loss against the competition's bottom side has done nothing to arrest their form slump.

Soliola says it's now time to "get back to the drawing board".

"The scope of things is pretty different for us this year, we can't really creep up on teams now," Soliola said.

"Teams are starting to get a gage on how we're playing. We don't want to reinvent the wheel, we just need to try and react a little bit better. We weren't as clinical as what we could have been."

A spirited defensive effort from the Knights was the catalyst for their drought-breaking victory, with a frustrated Canberra side left searching for answers on the offensive front.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart says Canberra's attack has been identified as "a benchmark" and now they have to learn how to regain momentum when opposition sides take it away.

"It's always a work in progress, but for us, we're working on other things to try and regain a little bit of that momentum that we're trying to get back," Stuart said.

"Today, you give any team 19 out of 19 sets, and I think we had six out of 13, it's always going to be a tough afternoon for you - especially in the second half when that occurred."

Captain Jarrod Croker sparked a late flurry of attacks but Canberra was its own worst enemy, with frustration the sentiment running through the Green Machine for the bulk of the 80 minutes.

Soliola was shifted to the bench before kick off but made his way onto the field in the third minute after a concussion brought an early end to Luke Bateman's day.

The Knights drew first blood but Raiders winger Nick Cotric continued a stellar start to his NRL career by planting the ball down untouched, before Jarrod Croker extended the lead to four with two goals.

Newcastle won back the lead through captain Sione Mata'utia but more remarkable was their ability to repel a deluge of Canberra attack leading into the halftime break.

After 29 minutes Canberra had 64 per cent of possession and were completing their sets at 92 per cent, but somehow they still trailed at the break.

Newcastle did it the hard way in the second half without forward Jacob Saifiti, who was stretchered off the field after his head collided with Dunamis Lui's hip in the first.

As frustrated as they were, the Raiders still managed to score first in the second stanza when Elliott Whitehead crashed over to steal the lead in the 45th minute.

The Knights added three of the final four tries to secure the two points and leave captain Mata'utia and plenty of others wondering what it is about the Raiders that brings out the best in Newcastle.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 34 (S Mata'utia 2 B Lamb P Mata'utia N Ross J Wardle tries B Lamb 5 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 20 (N Cotric 2 E Whitehead tries J Croker 3 A Sezer goals) at McDonald Jones Stadium. Referees: Gavin Badger, Peter Gough. Crowd: 10,997.