Kalyn Ponga concedes he must keep himself on the field to win back his Queensland No.1 jersey after overcoming multiple head knocks to help Newcastle to a 28-18 NRL victory over Manly.
In his first game for the Knights since being axed for State of Origin I, Ponga overcome a shaky start to look dangerous in every touch at fullback and set up a try in the Knights’ win.
Crucially, he was able to bounce back from three head knocks to play the 80 minutes after Queensland selectors admitted Ponga’s history of concussions and a head injury assessment last week played a role into his Origin snub.
Ponga insists the Maroons decision to leave him out for Adelaide had not played on his mind in the match, nor did it influence his move from five-eighth to fullback.
But he is well aware the only way to get back into the Queensland side is to string matches together without concussion scares.
“I just have to play games, I can’t worry about (selection),” Ponga said.
“I am fortunate that today I had a couple and obviously no effect. I felt fine. It is part of footy and a part of my game. I can’t worry about them.
“I can’t go into games worried about that. I just need to move on and do my role and play good footy.”
Ponga said he was disappointed by Slater’s decision to leave him out of Game I after he starred in last year’s decider, but he “accepted and respected” his non-selection.
After throwing an early intercept pass and kicking a dropout that failed to go 10 metres that helped send Manly out to an 8-0 lead, Ponga bounced back into the game at McDonald Jones Stadium.
He busted four tackles, provided several half breaks and put hat-trick hero Greg Marzhew over untouched after a Lachlan Fitzgibbon offload to level the scores at 14-14 after Newcastle trailed 14-10 at the break.
“I probably felt I used my eyes a lot more at the back,” Ponga said.
“Being at fullback, being able to see both sides of the rucks. I felt freer in that sense.”
Dane Gagai also had several strong runs in the win after being dropped by the Knights, while Daniel Saifiti was one of their best forwards after being overlooked by NSW.
The Knights squandered several chances in the first half, and allowed Manly back into the game at 18-18 with 18 minutes to go when Jackson Hastings offered up an intercept pass for Jason Saab.
But when Tolutau Koula was sin-binned for a high hit on Ponga with 15 minutes to go, the Knights were able to take charge against a Sea Eagles outfit missing Daly Cherry-Evans, Tom Trbojevic and his brother Jake.
Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland scored under the posts after a scrappy play with Koula off to put Newcastle back in the lead, while a length-of-the-field effort from Dom Young sealed the game.
Manly were gutsy given the players they were missing, and scrambled well to save several tries before the time without Koula cruelled them.
“I didn’t think it was a sin-bin,” Seibold said.
“It was a harsh call, but that’s not why we lost the game.
“I was super proud of the guys today. We were brave, really brave. We had five or six try-saving tackles.
“They kept turning up for each other out of position. It’s disappointing because of the effort they put in.”
© AAP 2023
