Ponga return spurs Knights to dominant win over Cowboys

Kalyn Ponga made a spectacular return from a groin injury at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night, inspiring Newcastle to a 38-0 shut-out of his former club North Queensland while proving himself fit for a State of Origin recall for the Maroons.

Ponga had not played for two months, missing Newcastle’s previous six games plus the first two Origin encounters, but showed no ill effects against the Cowboys to lead the Knights to back-to-back wins for only the second time this year.

The dynamic fullback scored two tries, both from Dominic Young passes, and returned the favour by sending the 19-year-old English winger over for two tries in the second half.

Ponga spent the last four minutes on the sideline after copping an accidental knee to the back of the head from Valentine Holmes – the man he will likely replace at the back for Queensland.

There is some doubt Holmes will even make the Maroons line-up for Game III after he was placed on report for a crusher tackle.

Ponga spoke to Fox Sports post-game and said although his neck was sore, it ws nothing a few bags of ice wouldn’t fix and he would be right for Queensland on July 14.

That match is scheduled for Stadium Australia but could be switched to another venue, possibly Newcastle, if COVID restrictions remain in place for Sydney.

Avenging a 36-20 loss to the Cowboys in Townsville on May 20, Newcastle’s seven-tries-to-nil victory pushed the Knights (14 points) past the Cowboys (14) on for-and-against to ninth, ahead of the Titans, Raiders and Warriors (all 12).

It was Newcastle’s biggest win since they defeated Wests Tigers 44-4 last August and they will collect another two points from a bye next weekend before a trip to AAMI Park to challenge premiership pace-setters Melbourne on July 17.

The Cowboys, who have lost three straight, were under the guidance of assistant coach Dean Young because head coach Todd Payten remained in Townsville as part of a 14-day COVID-related isolation.

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Ponga carves the Cowboys up to send Young over

That was a significant part of a disrupted preparation, which included a game-day charter flight to Newcastle, and it showed in the early exchanges as the Cowboys struggled to complete their sets.

In his first game this season playing alongside Mitchell Pearce, Jake Clifford and Jayden Brailey, as part of Newcastle’s first-choice ‘spine’, Ponga scored two tries in the first half to help the Knights build a 22-0 lead by the break.

The first of those came after just two minutes, when Lachlan Fitzgibbon batted back a Clifford kick to Young, who flicked it inside to Ponga before he spun out of a tackle to touch down.

Clifford, who like Ponga was playing against his former teammates after transferring from the Cowboys last month, hooked the conversion attempt to leave the Knights with a 4-0 lead.

The Cowboys appeared to equalise in the eighth minute when centre Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow put the hammer down to make a break down the left wing, kicking in-field as he was tackled by Ponga.

Tabuai-Fidow regained his footing and re-entered the field of play in time to regather his kick and score in the corner. But replays showed his foot scraped the touchline in Clifford’s tackle just before planting the ball and the try was disallowed.

The Cowboys were guilty of several handling errors in their own territory and Pearce made them pay in the 14th minute, delivering a short pass for Jacob Saifiti to squeeze between Tom Dearden and Javid Bowen to score Newcastle’s second try. Clifford converted for a 10-0 lead.

Ponga first needed medical attention in the 21st minute when he was crunched by Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi but he remained on the field, batting on a pass to Young two minutes later but Young was penalised for a double movement reaching out to score.

The Knights recovered quickly and extended their lead to 16-0 in the 25th minute when Kurt Mann leapt to take Clifford’s bomb and popped a pass for Connor Watson to score under the posts.

Clifford, Fitzgibbon, Enari Tuala and Young combined on Newcastle’s left edge just two minutes later to stretch North Queensland’s defence and Young passed inside for Ponga to finish the raid with his second try.

Neither side took advantage of their attacking opportunities in the first 15 minutes of the second half but Ponga put his stamp on proceedings with two pieces of brilliance to create tries for Young.

Ponga split the Cowboys up the middle in the 59th minute, stepping and jinking to his left to flick an inside pass for Young to race away and score.

Nine minutes later, Clifford marked a Pearce bomb and Mann batted the ball down for Ponga, who kicked to an unmarked Young on the left wing to cross for his second try. Clifford converted both tries to give Newcastle a 32-0 lead.

After a long break by Tuala, another former Cowboy, Watson took a pass from Pearce in the 77th minute to burrow over for his second try next to the posts, and Clifford converted to end the scoring.

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