O'Brien was pleased with his team's response to their unacceptable performance in a 42-16 loss to Gold Coast six days earlier but stressed they had to bring the same energy and effort levels to Penrith next Thursday when they challenge the unbeaten Panthers. "We lost a winger in the first five minutes so we put Brodie Jones in, who I thought was exceptional," O'Brien said. NRL 2021: Gold Coast Titans vs Newcastle Knights, David Fifita form, Kalyn Ponga. Sports. Social media appeared to be more on the Alexander side of the equation. Latest News. Meanwhile the Storm could have star … Landscape version of the Flipboard logo. Newcastle Knights coach Adam O’Brien isn’t worried about returning star Kalyn Ponga receiving “illegal” treatment, and he insists the fullback doesn’t have to be the Knights “saviour” amid the club’s injury crisis. That closes your mindset.’ “Toby Rudolf’s eyes are always for the ball,” senior review official Alan Shortall said. We gonna ignore knock ons from now on because "he's trying to catch the ball"? Skip to content. “Toby Rudolf didn’t take his eyes off the ball,” he said. “I think the ball is too high in the air when the contact is made.”, “What is Ponga to do?” Ginnane said. IPL Auction 2021: The Big Names Up For Grabs . "But I'm not going to put pressure on both staff and Kalyn by naming a date just yet." "We'll get him on the mend and we're on again in six days [against Penrith].". O'Brien said Watson did not train Thursday and slept into the afternoon on Friday, and though Watson showed signs of improvement, Ponga's condition deteriorated in the countdown to kick-off. Including the match-winner in the 77th minute after earning a penalty at the other end of the field, Ponga scored two tries, set up two for Mitch Barnett and Brodie Jones, and kicked three goals from five attempts for a personal haul of 14 points. Ponga's no.1 jersey will likely be replaced by 21-year-old Tex Hoy. "Certainly the wins are always important, but we needed to see a response, and our start to the game needed to have a whole lot more intent to it than what it had last week, and I felt that we've made some steps forward in that area," O'Brien said. It was far from the most seamless half with even the one try the side scored being controversial with Fox League analyst and Panthers legend Greg Alexander slamming the decision. Fullback Kalyn Ponga has been named to return from a shoulder issue at fullback for his first match of 2021 but won’t be risked if he isn’t quite right. Matt Logue NCA NewsWire April 9, 2021 12:28pm Nationwide News Pty Limited Copyright © 2021. Kalyn Ponga was outstanding in the Knights' thrilling win over Cronulla. news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site>news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site. “If he meant to do it, then he did it brilliantly in that he kept his eye on the ball the whole time.”, The balls was well above the play.Source:FOX SPORTS, Alexander: “I’m not going to argue that, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ponga was taken out before he could have a play at the ball. The coach explained Knights medical staff tried to give Ponga anti-nausea medication at half-time and he looked "a bit spent" after full-time, but there was never any consideration to replace him. Gorden Tallis agreed and said it may have seemed worse because it was a forward who ran into Ponga. Newcastle Knights full-back Kalyn Ponga could reportedly miss at least the first quarter of the 2021 NRL regular season following off-season shoulder surgery. He played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League, New Zealand Māori at international level, and has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.He has played as a five-eighth and on the wing earlier in his career. But the main football questions have been how much it will affect the Sharks on the field for the remainder of the season under interim coach Josh Hannay. Golf 2021: Wild brawl, 18th green, phone, flag, school fundr... NBA 2021: Charles Barkley, Shane Heal video, message for Shy... AFL 2021: Jonathon Patton retirement, Hawthorn news, lewd te... Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Ponga will play his first NRL game since off-season shoulder surgery against the Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday. Ponga is an unlikely starter for the 2021 season with no "definitive date" for his return. "To do what he did tonight, he had a hand in nine plays, so that had me up and down too. Venue: April 10, 2021 - 3:04PM Kalyn Ponga’s return from injury got off to a woeful start on Saturday afternoon — the Newcastle Knights star kicked the ball out on the full with his first touch of the footy in six months. You have skipped the navigation, tab for page content. The pair collided with the ball still a long way in the air with the ball then falling to Sharks centre Jesse Ramien to score. Apart from making two try-saving plays and scoring his first NRL try, Jones set up Ponga's winning try when he recovered a speculative Blake Green cross-field bomb in the 77th minute. “I can understand the video ref saying that he only had eyes for the ball but that doesn’t change the fact that the man that’s trying to catch the ball also is taken out.”. Saturday, April 10 2021 . Heartbreaking photo shows reality for coronavirus patients in hospital; Kalyn Ponga returns from injury, Newcastle Knights vs Gold Coast Titans, rugby league; Johnson and Johnson vaccine investigated for rare blood clot side effect; Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary backs Jarome Luai to beat Cody Walker and Jack Wighton in battle for NSW Blues State … The 2018 and 2020 Danny Buderus medal winner, Ponga enjoyed a stunning season last year. Tex Hoy wasn’t named after suffering a hamstring injury last weekend. The ball was still high enough in the air that neither player to make a play at it when the collision happened.”. "He's an outstanding talent, Kalyn, and the good ones have a habit of finding a way to hurt you," Hannay told reporters. McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle. "We just found a way to win tonight, he played tough, and a lot of us did but he played a big part in getting us the win.". Share . 04/09/2021. Whiskeybrain. Jones, usually a middle or edge forward, played right centre and Enari Tuala pushed out to the wing. Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.. By Anindita Das Last updated Oct 5, 2020. Kalyn Ponga could see the silver lining, despite a rampaging David Fifita casting a grey cloud over the Newcastle star's NRL return from injury. Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga is set to make a much-needed return against Gold Coast on Saturday as the Knights struggle to name a 21-man team in the face of a crippling injury toll. #NRLKnightsSharks. Open in app; Sign up. O'Brien did not know what Ponga and Watson had eaten that caused their upset stomachs "but I'd steer clear of it", and hooker Jayden Brailey was unaware how sick Ponga was during the game. "To put himself in the frame, that one that he set up [for Jones] was an exceptional piece of skill, but he played tough all night [and] you could clearly see that he was carrying something as well. It comes as the Knights struggle to name a 21-man squad in the face of a crippling injury toll that worsened in a 22-13 loss to St George Illawarra on Sunday. Kalyn Ponga is one of a number of stars who won’t be fit and ready to play by Round 1 of the 2021 Telstra Premiership race. O'Brien expects to be without Hunt for at least the next few weeks and will consider several options, including keeping Jones in the centres, before settling on his backline to face the Panthers. After successive losses to the Titans, Dragons and Wests Tigers, the Knights were desperate to turn their fortunes around against the Sharks in front of a loyal home crowd of 17,039, but now face the Panthers (away), Roosters (home) and Raiders (away) in the next three weeks. The commentators did mention that it was also because Sharks centre Jesse Ramien scored, someone who had a short lived career with the club which Ginnane called “a bitter divorce”. "But there's certainly a heap of things that we still need to be better at, and the good parts of it, that's the expectation. O'Brien will seek clarification from NRL referees boss Jared Maxwell about the decision to award Sharks winger Mawene Hiroti a try in the 67th minute based on a video review which overturned referee Matt Cecchin's on-field decision of no try. "I knew he was crook – I didn't know he was spewing out the back – but he's a tough kid, he's been around the game for a while, and I thought he was unreal," Brailey told reporters. Kalyn Ponga has missed the start to the season due to a shoulder injury. The Cronulla Sharks’ first games since the departure of coach John Morris hasn’t quite gone to plan in the first half with the Knights taking a 14-6 lead to the break. For Maori, they lost fullback Kalyn Ponga to injury but coach David Kidwell will have the services of veteran playmaker Benji Marshall. Whatever had Kalyn Ponga keeling over on Friday night, he left Cronulla feeling a lot worse. Knights coach Adam O'Brien said Ponga, who could be seen doubled over and vomiting on multiple occasions during the game, and housemate Connor Watson were both ill in the lead-up. Newcastle superstar Kalyn Ponga spent most of Friday on the toilet battling the effects of a stomach bug, but it was Cronulla who felt sick after he inspired the Knights to a gut-busting 26-22 victory at McDonald Jones Stadium that night. “Well, he was going for the ball with Toby Rudolf but he makes contact with Ponga before the ball is catchable,” Alexander argued. "We've had some big plays that have hurt this footy team, and I need to get a bit more clarification around it," he said. A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. On the fifth tackle, Sharks halfback Chad Townsend put up a bomb that came down on the 10m line. Try 14-Days Free Now >. Morris was stood down midweek after the club signed Craig Fitzgibbon for a three year deal. The crowd were far from happy with the call, raining down boos. Kalyn Ponga’s return is perfect timing given Newcastle’s horror injury toll and suspension list, but he won’t necessarily be the Knights’ saviour. Bunker clears try for Hiroti as Sharks hit lead. Credit: Getty The Sea Eagles are in desperate need of a win but round six appears a … But the video ref had a much different idea. Feb 17, 2021. “I genuinely think he was going for the ball.”. “I think you’ve got to look at the height of the ball,” Alexander added. "He played really tough," O'Brien told reporters after the game. Worst call of the season so far #NRLKnightsSharks, New tactics thanks to @Cronulla_Sharks Put up a bomb and have a player run through keeping his eyes UP UP UP at the ball and get in the air enough to knock into the fullback ...He had NO intention to take that but let he kept his eyes in the air #NRL    #NRLKnightsSharks, Understand you can't have rules for everything, but I don't think you should gain an advantage because your player mistimed a jump and took an opponent out. foxsports.com.au - The Knights are set to welcome back Kalyn Ponga to help deal with a horror injury crisis against the Titans. The … Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga made plenty of ground to get to the ball with Cronulla lock Toby Rudolf baring down on the play. The Knights seem to have been through it all in recent years – now, the squad is battling a concerning injury toll. 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