Knights coach Adam O’Brien has heaped praise on a “brave” Kalyn Ponga for playing through an “excruciating” hip pointer injury against the Roosters.
The 26-year-old suffered the injury whilst attempting to tackle winger Daniel Tupou in the 16th minute, putting his body on the line aiming to stop a certain four-pointer.
Ponga reeled out of that tackle and was clearly in pain after taking the kick-off, battling through to half time before club medicos treated his injury.
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The superstar fullback played through the pain in the second 40 minutes and was brave, earning a huge wrap from his coach in the post-match press conference.
“(He’s) sore, very sore, it was a remarkable job what he has done for us. Brave and tough,” O’Brien said.
“No one can ever question that kid’s toughness, I’m amazed… I was thinking please battle on, I kept a close eye on him and I knew the kicking, we had to change our kick plan.
“He wasn’t able to do any general play kicking, I could see he was in some discomfort and speaking to the medical staff they said ‘we will give it a crack at halftime to try get it going’.
“But I can tell now in his face, he’s pale, he is in a lot of pain… apparantely they are excruciating.”
Knights fans watched on with bated breath every time Ponga touched the ball, hoping their marquee man wouldn’t be forced to leave the field.
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When asked if O’Brien was considering parking Ponga, being the club’s most important player, he revealed he didn’t make the call.
“I’m governed by him, he’s experienced and he knows what he is capable of, so I do leave a bit up to him,” O’Brien said.
“Because of the nature of the injury, if it’s something else that can get progressively worse where he’s going to miss a bunch of games.
“But this was just pain management this one, so that plays a factor as well.”
Knights co-captain Jayden Brailey also echoed his coach’s praise, labelling Ponga the “leader” of the Newcastle club.
“He’s tough as nails, everyone sees all the flary stuff he does and all the X-factor he brings to the footy side, but that toughness can’t be questioned,” Brailey said.
“He does it week in, week out. Brings the ball back with venom and he cares about this footy side, he’s our leader so it means a lot to the whole playing group.”
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