That was the simple piece of advice from Knights coach Nathan Brown to his fullback Kalyn Ponga that helped spark Saturday's 42-6 thrashing of the North Queensland Cowboys at McDonald Jones Stadium.

After a week of criticism over his recent form and his post-match banter with Eels players, Ponga was back to his scintillating best in the first half against his former club as the Knights finally ended a six-game run of defeats to breath some life back into the club's finals hopes.

Skipper Mitchell Pearce, himself struggling to find his best form since Origin, was just as dominant as his brilliant young fullback with the pair scoring two tries a piece in the seven try romp.

While picking up the two competition points was imperative from the must-win game, the Knights also improved their differential from minus 21 to plus 15 which could prove crucial to their play-offs chances if they manage to win their remaining three matches.

Ponga scored two of his side's three first half tries as the Knights led 18-6 at halftime before four tries in the space of 15 minutes late in the second half saw the final scoreline blow out.

For his part, Pearce raced 50 metres to score in the opening half before producing a trademark right foot step to force his way over from close range in the second. Brown was not surprised two of his biggest names stood up when it counted after challenging them during the build-up to the game to rediscover their best form.

"Obviously Pearcey had some really nice touches and Kalyn again, off the back of a lot of hard work from their team-mates, they got an opportunity to play some footy," he said.

Asked had criticism of their form affected them, Brown said: "Look, Pearcey's been getting a hard time for a lot of his life, I suppose, about lots of things. But for Kalyn, I don't think he's ever been given a hard time before ... but he showed his qualities.

"His involvements today, there were quite a lot of them and of high standard ... so that was great, but I'm not too sure whether that negative publicity affected KP or not. I'm not even sure if he reads half of it, to be honest with you. I'm lucky to get him to watch a game of footy."

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But they weren't the only contributors to the 36 point win. The Knights had nine players who ran for more than 100 metres with winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall topping the list with 209 metres including a brilliant 60 metre bust from his own in-goal in the second half. Sione Mata'utia, switched from the bench to the centres for the game, was outstanding, scoring a try and making 194 metres from 18 runs including five tackle busts.

Hooker Connor Watson also stood out with his speed out of dummy half but is in doubt for next Saturday's clash against the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown with a knee medial strain.

Ponga's lethal running game terrorised the outclassed Cowboys.

"Over the last few weeks, I've been throwing passes and trying to kick but I just had to come back to what I'm good at," Ponga said.