Adam O'Brien says Kalyn Ponga has "that look about him" again after his brilliance helped keep Newcastle's top-eight hopes alive with a 36-16 win over South Sydney.
Needing a win to stay in top-eight contention, Ponga provided the highlight of the match on Saturday night to keep his team in 11th spot on the NRL ladder.
Newcastle will need results to go in their favour over the next fortnight to reach the finals, as well as wins of their own against Gold Coast and the Dolphins.
They also need Ponga firing.
Last year's Dally M Medallist and a man on a hot streak this time 12 months ago, Ponga has lacked the same impact during an injury-affected 2024.
But there were flashes of it on Saturday night.
Match Highlights 🎥 - #NRLSouthsKnights
— NRL (@NRL) August 24, 2024
The Knights overcame the loss of Test forwards Tyson Frizell and Kai Pearce-Paul to keep their finals hopes alive with a 38-16 defeat of South Sydney. pic.twitter.com/SdcqETGfyU
After Newcastle led 20-12 at the break, Souths began to claw back into the match with the territorial advantage shortly after the resumption.
Then the Knights fullback provided the most influential moment of the match.
Ponga first took a kick on his own line and stepped a number of Souths defenders to sprint 40 metres and put Newcastle on the front foot.
Later in the set he got involved again, dummying and stepping his way through the Rabbitohs line and sending Jack Cogger in under the posts.
"He's just got a look about him at the moment," Knights coach O'Brien said.
"He gets embarrassed when I give him too many accolades, but he is a hell of a player, a great leader for the club and keeps us all connected."
Newcastle then scored twice more, with Cogger completing his own double before putting Dane Gagai over for the centre's second of the night late.
It wasn't all good news for the Knights, with second-rower Kai Pearce-Paul taken to hospital mid-match with a large gash his shin, leaving him in significant doubt for next week.
"I just saw the photo of it then, it almost made me crook. It was awful," O'Brien said.
"It's not a soft-tissue injury or a bone break, but it's pretty big. It's like a shark bite at the moment, it's huge."
Tyson Frizell is set to miss next Sunday's clash with the Titans after being concussed by a Cameron Murray high shot.
Murray was first placed on report for the hit, before being sin-binned by referee Chris Butler once Frizell left the field for a HIA.
In better news, Newcastle could have NSW State of Origin centre Bradman Best back from a hamstring injury.
For the Knights to make the finals, they will need to win their last two games and have eighth-placed St George Illawarra drop two of their last three against Cronulla, Parramatta and Canberra.
They will also need Brisbane to lose to either the Dolphins or a Melbourne side likely to rest players in the final round.
For Souths, their miserable season can't end soon enough after slumping to their 15th loss of 2024, and with the Latrell Mitchell saga still hanging over their heads.
Things looked worrying early when the Knights stripped them for numbers and Fletcher Sharpe went over untouched for the first try.
Souths hit back through Taane Milne, before Jack Wighton turned back the clock and ran through Frizell and Adam Elliott from close to the line to make it 12-6.
But the Rabbitohs collapsed just before halftime, allowing Dylan Lucas in for one try, putting the kick-off out on the full, and letting Gagai cross from the next set.
"We haven't stopped fighting, but we're not getting the basics right. It's the same problems we had when I first came in (as interim coach in April)," Ben Hornby said.
"A lot of things went wrong. Discipline is still killing us. It just snowballs on you."
