Melbourne thrash poor Knights outfit in Fiji NRL trial

Two weeks out from their opening-round encounter with reigning champions Penrith, the bulk of the Storm's stars had their first run of the season on Saturday and had no trouble getting the job done against the Knights.

Halfback Jahrome Hughes looked in mid-season form with a controlling display and two try assists in the 28-10 win.

Ryan Papenhuyzen continued his return to the NRL side with two stints at fullback, but he was well handled by the Knights.

But his fellow spine member and new club captain Harry Grant looked at his crafty best, stamping his performance with a try off a dummy-half scoot.

It wasn't the performance Newcastle fans were hoping for as their side looked to ramp things up ahead of the new campaign.

They missed a stack of tackles and looked lazy at times in defence, never more so than when Storm five-eighth Jonah Pezet danced through their line to score untouched in the first half.

Newcastle's attack also failed to fire, with a number of passes in key moments going to ground.

A flashy run from star No.1 Kalyn Ponga that allowed centre Bradman Best to score in the shadows of half-time was clearly their best moment of the game.

The Knights parked their stars on the pine early in the second half, with bench forwards Kai Pearce-Paul (42m) and Jack Hetherington (62m) among those fighting to break into the starting line-up.

Utility Jack Cogger appears to have lost the race for a starting halves role to Tyson Gamble and Jackson Hastings, coming off the bench to spell Phoenix Crossland at hooker.

Storm talent Kane Bradley (40m) didn't set the world on fire after being named to start in the back row, although his presumed understudy Shawn Blore (29m) didn't do much to wrestle the spot from him.

Storm prop Tui Kamikamica looked inspired playing in front of his home crowd, churning out 88m in the first half alone to comfortably lead his side.

Australian Associated Press