HOPING he's put the worst of any concussion issues behind him, Knights captain Kalyn Ponga claims he was previously unaware of the impact alcohol could have on those injuries.
Newcastle's marquee man missed the back-end of last NRL season after suffering a series of head knocks in quick succession.
While sidelined Ponga went out drinking with Knights teammate Kurt Mann, videoed exiting a toilet cubicle together in Newcastle in August.
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"To be honest I didn't know the affect alcohol could have on concussion," he said at club headquarters on Monday when fronting the media for the first time since the pub incident.
"Obviously it's not great for concussion. I've learned a lot from that time."
Ponga says knowledge around concussion in sport, including rugby league, continues to evolve and he now feels better placed to tackle any potential problems in the future.
"It's not a foreign part of the game, but there's so much stuff about concussion people don't know," he said.
"I look back at that time and during that period when I was going through the concussions, and they do have an affect on you.
"I guess moving forward, there's been lots of lessons learnt and that's probably one of them.
"Hopefully I don't have any next year [2023] and there's not many that come up in the game, because unfortunately it's a terrible part of the sport we play.
"If I'm to have one or if anyone in the game is to have one, I think probably being more aware of the procedural process that happens afterwards is only going to be beneficial."
Having not played in almost seven months and with a largely uninterrupted pre-season block, Ponga says he feels well placed ahead of Friday's second trial and next month's opening round.
"I think I've recovered quite well. I haven't really had to think about the concussions to be honest," he said.
"I've gone though the pre-season, obviously done all the contact and everything. My head feels safe and I feel in a really comfortable spot.
"I feel like that's behind me, well hopefully. I hope I don't get another one ... I want to put that in the past and it's a part of last year that hurt me a lot.
"It's something that I can't control and I definitely don't go into games wanting it."
He went down three times in the space of six weeks last season, including Origin II.
Ponga, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Knights during 2022, later ruled himself out of the World Cup.
In the wake of a difficult period and ongoing criticism, Ponga added: "I can see the frustration from the fans, I just want them to know how much I do care".
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