Precision, poise and Ponga: How the Knights have flown into finals footy

The Newcastle Knights have flown into finals footy as one of the most in-form teams in the Premiership era with nine straight wins to their name earning them a sold-out home final.

Adam O'Brien's side were sitting 14th on the ladder with five wins and nine losses after Round 17; now, the conversation is around their potential to compete for the Premiership.

Kalyn Ponga making the change from five-eighth to fullback has been attributed to a large chunk of Newcastle’s turnaround. It’s certainly helped. He’s playing both sides of the ruck, is a constant threat to the defence, and the Knights are scoring a lot more points now than they were earlier in the season.

However, it’s the lack of change that has helped Newcastle most.

Classy Kalyn

Ponga featured at fullback with Tyson Gamble and Jackson Hastings in the halves in ten consecutive games up to Round 25. The trio have been able to learn how each other plays, anticipate what they’re going to do next, and can see a cue in the defensive line and know exactly where to be and when.

If we look at last year when the Knights finished 14th – scoring 15.5 points per game – they used ten different fullback and halves combinations.

The longest unchanged streak lasted only three games as Tex Hoy, Adam Clune and Anthony Milford combined for Round 22, 23 and 24... of which the Knights went winless.

It's also worth noting that Ponga had only played 30 games alongside Bradman Best at centre before this season and never more than eight consecutive games. Best is in career-best form and it has just happened to coincide with the similarly career-best consistency in the players named around him.

With the same group on the field together for long stretches, the Knights have been able to iron out the game plan and improve in their ability to play it out quickly and consistently.

Ponga is the centrepiece of the attack and his move to fullback has helped to spread him across the field. In the four games he played in the halves, Ponga touched the ball on the right side of the field inside the attacking half only five times in total.

At fullback, he’s touching the ball 4.7 times per game while leaning heavily on his favoured left edge for 9.8 touches per game, also up from 7.9 last season.

But as good as the Maroons star is, Ponga can’t do it all on his own and it’s the work from the inside that has improved and allowed him to create the highlights out wide.

The unlikely star halves

Gamble and Hastings have turned out to be a perfect pair for Ponga to play outside. They’re tough and not afraid to dig deep into the line. Willing to play what is often a thankless role to most people outside of the coaches and playing group, Gamble and Hastings know who they want to get at in the defensive line and throw the pass before the try assist – combining for only 13 try assists this season.

For context, Shaun Johnson has 27 and Cody Walker has 24. Newcastle's centres in Bradman Best and Dane Gagai have double the assists of their halves.

Among the seven different halves pairings used in 2022, the Knights’ five-eighth and halfback averaged only 6.2 line engagements per game, putting them in the bottom four teams. In 2023, Gamble and Hastings have them up to fourth in line engagements at 11.1 per game.

Their straight and tempo-changing runs directly at the line are what creates the three-v-two situations for Ponga and company on the edge.

When the Knights are looking to fire a shot in attacking positions, they do it at speed – which can only happen through the cohesion the team has developed and their ability to fall into shape quickly. It's also a byproduct of the Newcastle pack doing a better job of getting them up the field, averaging 300 more metres per game than they did last year. They're picking their spots in the line, and then looking to generate a quick play-the-ball as a result.

Their first try in Round 20 against the Wests Tigers ends like many others with Ponga throwing the final pass down the left edge. Api Koroisau gives us a hint of what the Knights do so well, though.

Koroisau is one of the smartest players and best defenders in the NRL. He sees what is coming here and tries twice to close it down himself, but to no avail.

Given the spot on the field is one the Knights like to attack from, Koroisau shoots out at Daniel Saifiti – anticipating the prop's attempt to play the ball at speed rather than generate metres. Saifiti, interestingly, leads the Knights pack with ten play-the-balls leading to tries this year.

As he steps back inside to beat him, Koroisau desperately moves to the short side
"A" spot in an attempt to close down Hastings’ time on the ball.

Hastings wants to get at the four-in defender to put Ponga on the outside of the three-man and Koroisau knows it. He does an excellent job of getting to Hastings but the defence outside him doesn’t react and Ponga gets the look he wants.

You can know what is coming but the speed in which the Knights can execute these actions makes them difficult to stop.

Charging off the ruck and dropping players back underneath, only the Brisbane Broncos ask starting opposition props and hookers to attempt more tackles than Newcastle. Tyson Frizell, in particular, has made a habit of weaving back into the middle and often finds the target that he’s looking for to act as the trigger.

You can see in the video above that Ponga is there behind the ruck and could have tried to create something from dummy half. Instead, he falls into shape.

 Hastings again carries the ball straight to engage the tight defender and with Lachlan Fitzgibbon holding up the three-in defender, the Raiders centre and winger are forced into a decision. It’s the only option for the defence at this stage, but the Knights are still able to execute for points in the corner.

Sometimes, it all comes together for both elements to play their part in the buildup.

Newcastle's predictability in scoring the majority of their tries down the left edge will no doubt be a talking point in the Raiders defensive meeting this week, but its not like the Knights are out of options when drifting away from the left.

Dom Young has scored 23 tries in 23 matches on the right wing to finish second in the NRL in the race to the Ken Irvine Medal. Impressively, Best has produced the play-the-ball leading to points 11 times out at left centre this season. Only one other backline player in the competition has more than six (Peta Hiku with 7).

In 2019, the Knights went on a winning run of seven victories in eight games, but failed to make the finals. In 2021, they won five of their last six before losing in their first finals game. What separates this Knights team from those, and from others that have produced similar runs, is how repeatable their attacks are.

There's a consistency to the way they score points that should translate well into finals footy where there are fewer opportunities to score and taking one opportunity can be the difference between winning and losing. Conceding only one try in three of their last six games is a big tick for their defence, too.

We’re yet to see a Premiership winner come from outside the top four on the NRL ladder. And while the Knights are still outsiders at this stage, it’s not difficult to see them beating any one of those playing in September on their day.