Kalyn Ponga's season was not the only one left in question after a weekend of sport in Newcastle and the Hunter region.
With finals looming for all of the local sporting codes, weekend results have left some teams fighting for survival while others breathed a little easier.
Making a move
Macquarie rebounded from their previous round's loss to join opponents Souths in equal fourth as they eye off a top-three finish this Newcastle Rugby League season.
The Scorpions (18 points) travel to meet Wests at Harker Oval on Tuesday night, another catch-up game from a rain-affected campaign, and can pull level with Cessnock (20) if they claim the two competition points.
The Two Blues, however, have two catch-up games in hand, starting when they host Nelson Bay on Tuesday night.
Nelson Bay accounted for Singleton 29-7 on Saturday to leapfrog the Wanderers into fourth spot.
Big games ahead
The Hunter Wildfires face a huge clash with Eastern Suburbs in Shute Shield next weekend after a last-minute, one-point loss to Randwick at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday.
The result not only saw Randwick leave town with the Sir Roden Cutler Shield, which can only be won at home and was held by Hunter for one week, the Wildfires dropped to ninth place.
They do however remain in control of their finals destiny.
The Wildfires women coach Joey de Dassel will be urging his charges to get back to their winning ways when they also host Easts next.
The Hunter women drew with Gordon over the weekend to remain fourth in Jack Scott Cup but have not won since beating their next opponents on May 27.
Tight at the top
Nova Thunder consolidated third place in Newcastle championship netball with a first-ever win over West Leagues Balance on Saturday, ensuring things stayed tight at the top with three rounds remaining in the regular season.
The return of former national league netballer Katie Robinson, who answered an SOS from Nova player-coach Laura Glendenning to step back out on court, has proven a boost as they eye their best ever season finish.
With three games to go, Souths and University of Newcastle top the points table on 33 points. Nova are nipping at their heels on 31 but face Lions twice and University once in their run to finals. West are fourth with 25, four ahead of Junction Stella.
Important wins
In NPLW Northern NSW, Newcastle Olympic extended their midseason winning streak to seven straight to take third place and leave opponents Maitland four adrift of the top four.
The Magpies were no doubt left feeling a touch hard done by after holding a 1-0 lead for 70 minutes of the match at Cooks Square Park.
The game was the last for Maitland attacking player Bronte Peel, who is headed to the United States to take up a college football scholarship.
Second-placed Magic beat Azzurri, who dropped to fourth, and can draw level with leaders Warners Bay atop the points table with another three points against last-placed New Lambton on Tuesday night.
The round-18 clash between Magic and Warners Bay on August 7 looms as a prospective mouth-watering battle for the premiership.
Ponga pain
Will Ponga play on after another concussion this NRL campaign? Should he? Knights legend and rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns doesn't think so.
"It's his third head knock this year, in the last couple of months ... they're not going to make the semis, so why would you risk a player like Kalyn?" Johns said.
For Newcastle Herald sports editor Robert Dillon, Knights' mistakes from a bygone era came quickly to mind.
"It's hard to imagine there is a club in the NRL with a more dubious track record of dealing with the issue of concussion than the Knights," Dillon wrote over the weekend.
What else happened
The minor premiership hopes of the Newcastle Northstars suffered a double blow in Canberra in Australian Ice Hockey League.
Newcastle, who had only lost one game in 2022 prior to this round, were beaten on Saturday and Sunday.
The Newcastle Falcons men sustained their second loss in a row in NBL1 East Conference while their female counterparts took their sixth win from the past seven outings.
Norths stayed unbeaten in Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League and Terrigal Avoca handed Killarney Vale their first loss of the season in Black Diamond Cup AFL.
