23-05-2025
Is Ponga the be-all and end-all for the Knights? Results suggest not really
Are the Knights any better or worse without star fullback Kalyn Ponga? Results-wise, not really.
As they prepare for their first game this season without their marquee man, as it stands, Newcastle's win percentage with Ponga in the side since his first game in 2018 is 44.03 per cent.
Without him, it's 42.22 per cent.
The evenness in their results with or without him comes as somewhat of a surprise given how influential Ponga can be.
All too often Newcastle are accused of being "over-reliant" on their skipper. And they very well might be.
But when he is out, is there a collective lift, consciously or not, among the rest of the players, knowing full well Ponga isn't there to produce some magic?
"I reckon there's an opportunity there, if that is the case - and I'm not saying that it is," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"Over-reliance? You could agree with that. He is a quality player, and most teams rely on their best strike weapons.
"But he is not with us this week, so we have to adjust and we'll need our leaders to stand up, and our young blokes - and there's a few of them - to put their best foot forward."
Ponga is Newcastle's best player by a country mile, and one of the best in the competition. He has won the Danny Buderus Medal on three occasions as the club's player of the year - in 2018, 2020 and 2023. He was crowned the NRL's best player in 2023, winning the Dally M Medal, and has gone close in other years as well.
But in recent seasons, Newcastle have produced some fair showings without him, albeit among some average ones.
The results might be mixed overall, 19 wins, two draws and 24 losses in the 45 games he has missed, but the likes of Fletcher Sharpe, David Armstrong and even Lachlan Miller have come in at fullback and made for pretty handy replacements.
Even as far back as in Ponga's first two years at the club, when Nathan Brown was coach, the Knights won games with the likes of Nick Meaney and Kurt Mann at fullback.
Sharpe has reverted to the No.1 jersey for Saturday's clash with Penrith, after playing the first 10 games this season at five-eighth.
More a runner, than a ball-player, expect the Cessnock junior to play more like a traditional fullback.
The Knights will tweak their style at Bathurst's Carrington Park to suit him.
"We'll play a lot more, well less expansive," O'Brien said.
"I anticipate we'll get Fletch in and around the ball a lot more.
"He's a runner, more than a passer, so that's probably the way that we'll go."
In addition to Ponga, the Knights are missing injured prop Jacob Saifiti (calf), centre Bradman Best (hamstring) and winger Greg Marzhew (knee).
All three appear unlikely for next Friday's match against the Dragons in Sydney as well, and whether Ponga backs up less than 48 hours after Wednesday's Origin in Brisbane remains to be seen.
It has left Newcastle a little light on. Fletcher Hunt, who debuted last week, will play his second NRL game on the left wing. The 19-year-old will likely be outside fellow rookie Kyle McCarthy, 21, who is making just his third NRL appearance.
Penrith are sure to target that edge, but the four-time defending premiers are an even more depleted outfit than Newcastle.
Without seven NRL regulars, they're missing a combined 1128 games of first-grade experience.
Halfback Nathan Cleary, fullback Dylan Edwards, lock Isaah Yeo, winger Brian To'o and back-rower Liam Martin are on NSW duty, while forwards Isaiah Papali'i and Luke Garner are also out.
Penrith, however, have enjoyed a reign of supremacy over Newcastle for a decade.
The Panthers have won 14 of the past 16 games the two sides have played.
Newcastle's win came in 2018, while there was a draw in 2020.
Penrith claimed a 38-20 victory the last time the teams met in Bathurst, in round three, 2022.
Kick-off is from 5.30pm.
Are the Knights any better or worse without star fullback Kalyn Ponga? Results-wise, not really.
As they prepare for their first game this season without their marquee man, as it stands, Newcastle's win percentage with Ponga in the side since his first game in 2018 is 44.03 per cent.
Without him, it's 42.22 per cent.
The evenness in their results with or without him comes as somewhat of a surprise given how influential Ponga can be.
All too often Newcastle are accused of being "over-reliant" on their skipper. And they very well might be.
But when he is out, is there a collective lift, consciously or not, among the rest of the players, knowing full well Ponga isn't there to produce some magic?
"I reckon there's an opportunity there, if that is the case - and I'm not saying that it is," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"Over-reliance? You could agree with that. He is a quality player, and most teams rely on their best strike weapons.
"But he is not with us this week, so we have to adjust and we'll need our leaders to stand up, and our young blokes - and there's a few of them - to put their best foot forward."
Ponga is Newcastle's best player by a country mile, and one of the best in the competition. He has won the Danny Buderus Medal on three occasions as the club's player of the year - in 2018, 2020 and 2023. He was crowned the NRL's best player in 2023, winning the Dally M Medal, and has gone close in other years as well.
But in recent seasons, Newcastle have produced some fair showings without him, albeit among some average ones.
The results might be mixed overall, 19 wins, two draws and 24 losses in the 45 games he has missed, but the likes of Fletcher Sharpe, David Armstrong and even Lachlan Miller have come in at fullback and made for pretty handy replacements.
Even as far back as in Ponga's first two years at the club, when Nathan Brown was coach, the Knights won games with the likes of Nick Meaney and Kurt Mann at fullback.
Sharpe has reverted to the No.1 jersey for Saturday's clash with Penrith, after playing the first 10 games this season at five-eighth.
More a runner, than a ball-player, expect the Cessnock junior to play more like a traditional fullback.
The Knights will tweak their style at Bathurst's Carrington Park to suit him.
"We'll play a lot more, well less expansive," O'Brien said.
"I anticipate we'll get Fletch in and around the ball a lot more.
"He's a runner, more than a passer, so that's probably the way that we'll go."
In addition to Ponga, the Knights are missing injured prop Jacob Saifiti (calf), centre Bradman Best (hamstring) and winger Greg Marzhew (knee).
All three appear unlikely for next Friday's match against the Dragons in Sydney as well, and whether Ponga backs up less than 48 hours after Wednesday's Origin in Brisbane remains to be seen.
It has left Newcastle a little light on. Fletcher Hunt, who debuted last week, will play his second NRL game on the left wing. The 19-year-old will likely be outside fellow rookie Kyle McCarthy, 21, who is making just his third NRL appearance.
Penrith are sure to target that edge, but the four-time defending premiers are an even more depleted outfit than Newcastle.
Without seven NRL regulars, they're missing a combined 1128 games of first-grade experience.
Halfback Nathan Cleary, fullback Dylan Edwards, lock Isaah Yeo, winger Brian To'o and back-rower Liam Martin are on NSW duty, while forwards Isaiah Papali'i and Luke Garner are also out.
Penrith, however, have enjoyed a reign of supremacy over Newcastle for a decade.
The Panthers have won 14 of the past 16 games the two sides have played.
Newcastle's win came in 2018, while there was a draw in 2020.
Penrith claimed a 38-20 victory the last time the teams met in Bathurst, in round three, 2022.
Kick-off is from 5.30pm.
Are the Knights any better or worse without star fullback Kalyn Ponga? Results-wise, not really.
As they prepare for their first game this season without their marquee man, as it stands, Newcastle's win percentage with Ponga in the side since his first game in 2018 is 44.03 per cent.
Without him, it's 42.22 per cent.
The evenness in their results with or without him comes as somewhat of a surprise given how influential Ponga can be.
All too often Newcastle are accused of being "over-reliant" on their skipper. And they very well might be.
But when he is out, is there a collective lift, consciously or not, among the rest of the players, knowing full well Ponga isn't there to produce some magic?
"I reckon there's an opportunity there, if that is the case - and I'm not saying that it is," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"Over-reliance? You could agree with that. He is a quality player, and most teams rely on their best strike weapons.
"But he is not with us this week, so we have to adjust and we'll need our leaders to stand up, and our young blokes - and there's a few of them - to put their best foot forward."
Ponga is Newcastle's best player by a country mile, and one of the best in the competition. He has won the Danny Buderus Medal on three occasions as the club's player of the year - in 2018, 2020 and 2023. He was crowned the NRL's best player in 2023, winning the Dally M Medal, and has gone close in other years as well.
But in recent seasons, Newcastle have produced some fair showings without him, albeit among some average ones.
The results might be mixed overall, 19 wins, two draws and 24 losses in the 45 games he has missed, but the likes of Fletcher Sharpe, David Armstrong and even Lachlan Miller have come in at fullback and made for pretty handy replacements.
Even as far back as in Ponga's first two years at the club, when Nathan Brown was coach, the Knights won games with the likes of Nick Meaney and Kurt Mann at fullback.
Sharpe has reverted to the No.1 jersey for Saturday's clash with Penrith, after playing the first 10 games this season at five-eighth.
More a runner, than a ball-player, expect the Cessnock junior to play more like a traditional fullback.
The Knights will tweak their style at Bathurst's Carrington Park to suit him.
"We'll play a lot more, well less expansive," O'Brien said.
"I anticipate we'll get Fletch in and around the ball a lot more.
"He's a runner, more than a passer, so that's probably the way that we'll go."
In addition to Ponga, the Knights are missing injured prop Jacob Saifiti (calf), centre Bradman Best (hamstring) and winger Greg Marzhew (knee).
All three appear unlikely for next Friday's match against the Dragons in Sydney as well, and whether Ponga backs up less than 48 hours after Wednesday's Origin in Brisbane remains to be seen.
It has left Newcastle a little light on. Fletcher Hunt, who debuted last week, will play his second NRL game on the left wing. The 19-year-old will likely be outside fellow rookie Kyle McCarthy, 21, who is making just his third NRL appearance.
Penrith are sure to target that edge, but the four-time defending premiers are an even more depleted outfit than Newcastle.
Without seven NRL regulars, they're missing a combined 1128 games of first-grade experience.
Halfback Nathan Cleary, fullback Dylan Edwards, lock Isaah Yeo, winger Brian To'o and back-rower Liam Martin are on NSW duty, while forwards Isaiah Papali'i and Luke Garner are also out.
Penrith, however, have enjoyed a reign of supremacy over Newcastle for a decade.
The Panthers have won 14 of the past 16 games the two sides have played.
Newcastle's win came in 2018, while there was a draw in 2020.
Penrith claimed a 38-20 victory the last time the teams met in Bathurst, in round three, 2022.
Kick-off is from 5.30pm.
Are the Knights any better or worse without star fullback Kalyn Ponga? Results-wise, not really.
As they prepare for their first game this season without their marquee man, as it stands, Newcastle's win percentage with Ponga in the side since his first game in 2018 is 44.03 per cent.
Without him, it's 42.22 per cent.
The evenness in their results with or without him comes as somewhat of a surprise given how influential Ponga can be.
All too often Newcastle are accused of being "over-reliant" on their skipper. And they very well might be.
But when he is out, is there a collective lift, consciously or not, among the rest of the players, knowing full well Ponga isn't there to produce some magic?
"I reckon there's an opportunity there, if that is the case - and I'm not saying that it is," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"Over-reliance? You could agree with that. He is a quality player, and most teams rely on their best strike weapons.
"But he is not with us this week, so we have to adjust and we'll need our leaders to stand up, and our young blokes - and there's a few of them - to put their best foot forward."
Ponga is Newcastle's best player by a country mile, and one of the best in the competition. He has won the Danny Buderus Medal on three occasions as the club's player of the year - in 2018, 2020 and 2023. He was crowned the NRL's best player in 2023, winning the Dally M Medal, and has gone close in other years as well.
But in recent seasons, Newcastle have produced some fair showings without him, albeit among some average ones.
The results might be mixed overall, 19 wins, two draws and 24 losses in the 45 games he has missed, but the likes of Fletcher Sharpe, David Armstrong and even Lachlan Miller have come in at fullback and made for pretty handy replacements.
Even as far back as in Ponga's first two years at the club, when Nathan Brown was coach, the Knights won games with the likes of Nick Meaney and Kurt Mann at fullback.
Sharpe has reverted to the No.1 jersey for Saturday's clash with Penrith, after playing the first 10 games this season at five-eighth.
More a runner, than a ball-player, expect the Cessnock junior to play more like a traditional fullback.
The Knights will tweak their style at Bathurst's Carrington Park to suit him.
"We'll play a lot more, well less expansive," O'Brien said.
"I anticipate we'll get Fletch in and around the ball a lot more.
"He's a runner, more than a passer, so that's probably the way that we'll go."
In addition to Ponga, the Knights are missing injured prop Jacob Saifiti (calf), centre Bradman Best (hamstring) and winger Greg Marzhew (knee).
All three appear unlikely for next Friday's match against the Dragons in Sydney as well, and whether Ponga backs up less than 48 hours after Wednesday's Origin in Brisbane remains to be seen.
It has left Newcastle a little light on. Fletcher Hunt, who debuted last week, will play his second NRL game on the left wing. The 19-year-old will likely be outside fellow rookie Kyle McCarthy, 21, who is making just his third NRL appearance.
Penrith are sure to target that edge, but the four-time defending premiers are an even more depleted outfit than Newcastle.
Without seven NRL regulars, they're missing a combined 1128 games of first-grade experience.
Halfback Nathan Cleary, fullback Dylan Edwards, lock Isaah Yeo, winger Brian To'o and back-rower Liam Martin are on NSW duty, while forwards Isaiah Papali'i and Luke Garner are also out.
Penrith, however, have enjoyed a reign of supremacy over Newcastle for a decade.
The Panthers have won 14 of the past 16 games the two sides have played.
Newcastle's win came in 2018, while there was a draw in 2020.
Penrith claimed a 38-20 victory the last time the teams met in Bathurst, in round three, 2022.
Kick-off is from 5.30pm.
