Miserable Knight: Head knock fears for Ponga as Roosters run riot

“I’m more concerned with how upset he is at the moment. He’s pretty emotional and feels like he’s let everyone down.

“At the end of the day he copped a whack to the head, he’s had a couple, so we need to get it all looked at.”

O’Brien said Ponga would visit top neurosurgeon Chris Levi during the week, but it was “too premature” to comment about whether it was best to park the fullback the remainder of the year.

“It’s just been a tough, shitty season,” O’Brien said.

Keary came back for the first time since round 14, when he left the field clutching the back of his head with a huge look of concern. More than once the playmaker’s future has been questioned because of his well-documented run of concussions.

It would not have been lost on Keary he was making his comeback at McDonald Jones Stadium where he was flattened – and had his Origin dream delayed – because of a sickening head knock in 2019.

But Keary scored a try for the Roosters when pushing up in support of former Knight Connor Watson, who made a break down field, and later set up Daniel Tupou’s first four-pointer. He did well to punch out the entire 80 minutes.

Luke Keary made a successful return from his latest head knock.Credit:Getty Images

“I felt like he jumped straight back into it, he wanted to play last week, we wanted him to get through a bit more work, he wasn’t tentative to get back into it, he was ready to go, and it’s a credit to him he got straight back into work,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said about Keary.

The huge win means the Chooks leapfrog Manly back into the top eight. They play the Sea Eagles on Thursday night.

Joey Manu missed Friday’s clash due to a calf complaint and is expected to return. Joseph Suaalii bagged a double and was excellent, as was skipper James Tedesco. A healthy number of locals still manage to find their voice when Phoenix Crossland and Edrick Lee scored late consolation tries.

Suaalii was given a few minutes at fullback as Tedesco enjoyed a well-earned early mark.

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Newcastle enjoyed most of the running early but coughed up the ball in good field position too soon in the tackle count. Frustrations boiled over for Dane Gagai, who let rip at Gough and was given 10 minutes in the sin bin for dissent.

The Knights also lost Lachlan Fitzgibbon to a fresh shoulder injury midway through the second half. Newcastle host Canterbury next Sunday.