O'Brien declares Ponga ready for barrage
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Ahead of throwing Kalyn Ponga into the frontline in the Knights' season-opener, coach Adam O'Brien says his new No.6 is ready to defend whatever the Warriors throw at him on Friday night.
After having to make just eight tackles in Newcastle's second Pre-season Challenge game last month, missing three in his 11 attempts, Ponga is likely to recieve significantly more attention from the Warriors in Wellington.
O'Brien said since returning to training in mid-February from a calf injury, Ponga has been churning through a mountain of defensive drills.
"We understand that he'll be targeted, but he is more than up for the challenge," O'Brien said.
"We have prepared him that way in training. He's done a hell of a lot more than eight tackles in each session. He's ready for what will come his way.
"[In the Pre-season Challenge] he looked short of a run naturally in defence. Before the Parramatta trial he only started training about three days before, and I think that showed.
"He's in much better physical condition for this game now."
Match: Warriors v Knights
Round 1 -
home Team
Warriors
5th Position
away Team
Knights
9th Position
Venue: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Last season in 14 games at fullback Ponga made 45 tackles and missed 15.
Aiding his transition into the halves – for the second time following an ill-fated stint in 2019 – has been the club's signing of experienced halfback Jackson Hastings and former rugby sevens play Lachlan Miller to slot in at fullback.
"Jackson allows KP to be the best version of himself," O'Brien said.
He controls the team well, which helps Kalyn. I didn't want to burden Kalyn with worrying about everyone else and where we were getting to on points of the field, that's not his strength, but it's certainly Jackson's strength.
Adam O'Brien
"[Lachlan] has been all we expected and more, he's really intelligent, he played a number of years before the sevens in the halves, so he's got a good understanding of the game.
"He's a real breath of fresh air."
Outside of their major positional shifts, the big talking point out of the Newcastle in recent weeks has been the future of winger Dominic Young.
Young gets the Knights under way
With Young set to link up with the Roosters in 2024, O'Brien said that on the eve of the new season kicking off everyone at Newcastle is comfortable with the situation surrounding the 21-year-old Englishman and his positioning at the club.
"The coaching group, myself and the players, everyone is comfortable where it's at," O'Brien said.
"We understand it's a business. He's a Knights players for the rest of this year and we are looking to make the most of that.
"He hasn't missed a beat at training... I think he's handled that really well."
