Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien says his in-form Knights have found their rhythm on a charge to the finals after Kalyn Ponga turned in a scintillating performance to shred Canberra in a vital 28-6 NRL win.
In their fourth straight win, the Knights led 26-0 on 50 minutes having capitalised on a deplorable first half from the Raiders to move within a point of the NRL’s top eight.
Star No.1 Ponga looked his unstoppable best from the outset at GIO Stadium, busting through the Canberra line in the first set of the game to establish the tempo for a majestic display that included a try, eight tackle busts, 165m and three line break assists.
He sent a scare through Newcastle fans when sent for a head injury assessment on 60 minutes following a stray knee from Canberra winger Jordan Rapana, but the fullback passed his test and returned to the field.
O’Brien, who admitted he flirted with leaving his prized weapon on the bench with the game locked away, said the entire rugby league world would have breathed a sigh of relief when Ponga passed his HIA.
“Me, the whole town, KP, everyone who loves footy,” he said with a laugh.
“I’ll admit that I did (consider resting Ponga) … but there’s just a flow to them at the moment and they love playing footy, he deserved to be part of what he set up in the first half.
“There’s a bit of a rhythm to us at the moment, so I just enjoyed watching it.
“There’s certainly some stuff in the second half, we lost our way a little bit but this side is getting better at pulling itself out of that situation and getting back on track.”
The fourth time this season they have been beaten by 22 points or more at home, an insipid Raiders side missed 17 tackles in the first half alone to go with five errors and a lack of creativity in attack.
At least temporarily, the win moves Newcastle to ninth on the ladder and they will be eyeing off a top-eight spot in the next fortnight, with games against the Dolphins (12th) and Canterbury (16th).
Ponga scored on seven minutes and assisted winger Dominic Young’s effort later in the first half, those moments sandwiching a Greg Marzhew try that capitalised on an acre of space left by Canberra’s poor defence.
Any thought of a trademark Raiders comeback was seemingly snuffed just two minutes into the second half, Ponga again creating a line break that ended with five-eighth Tyson Gamble making it 26-0.
O’Brien pointed to his side’s record against top-five sides, having beaten the Raiders, the Warriors and Melbourne and pushed Penrith and Brisbane.
“There’s belief in our performances, certainly,” he said.
“We’ve performed quite well against the top five, we’ve beaten three of them, lost to one in golden point and lost one right at the death against the Broncos.
“There’s belief in our best footy … we’ve just got to make sure we’re playing our best.”
Teams are queuing up to replace Canberra in the top eight, four sides within three points of the fifth-ranked Raiders with their top-four hopes virtually extinguished in the last fortnight.
“It was a very bad day,” Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said.
“We’ve had three months of tough, grinding football, and seen good results to get us into a really good position on the table.
“We’ve got to get going again … it’s not us, we certainly won’t be looking for any soft excuses.”
