{"id":631677,"date":"2026-04-26T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631677\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T08:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:28:10","slug":"justin-holbrook-on-kalyn-ponga-return-contract-phoenix-crossland-newcastle-knights-vs-penrith-panthers-round-8-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631677\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Holbrook on Kalyn Ponga return, contract, Phoenix Crossland, Newcastle Knights vs Penrith Panthers, Round 8, press conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Holbrook is looking forward to welcoming back a host of stars including recently re-signed skipper Kalyn Ponga after his side were outclassed by the Panthers 44-12 in Round 8. <\/p>\n<p>Holbrook was disappointed with his side\u2019s errors, which gifted the Panthers too much ball and Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards made them pay in an eight tries to two rout. <\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776909012_441_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a tough one,\u201d Holbrook said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe fixed up the one area we didn\u2019t do well last week. That was yardage D and really our line speed. We did a massive improvement there. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut just our ability to apply any sort of pressure. We\u2019re playing some quality sides at the moment, and we just had too many errors on early tackles and just made it too hard a day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the heavy defeat Holbrook was proud of his team\u2019s effort, but conceded he needs to get some experience back in the team to match the top sides. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe effort was fine, it\u2019s the understanding of how to play the game,and individuals have got to play at their best at the moment,\u201d Holbrook said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe obviously know we\u2019ve got some troops missing, and we need to all be at our best, and we\u2019re not there. <\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n<p>\u2018EMBARRASSED\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-craig-bellamy-press-conference-after-melbourne-storm-loss-harry-grant-video-replay-reaction\/news-story\/ba9dc39193a7ada50faf8135557efbe1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Bellamy\u2019s shock admission as skipper defends Storm coach<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018CROSSROADS\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-transfer-whispers-news-and-updates-teams-tanah-boyd-in-discussion-with-warriors\/news-story\/572fee6f90839c9e78b6a0fdfee91e49\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Star linked to bombshell NRL return.. but not with Roosters<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018APPALLING\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/appalling-shattered-storm-duo-without-answers-in-jarring-vision-as-ugly-stat-comes-to-light\/news-story\/d4f5f8f28f2dd14c029c5a5f93b404dc\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Shattered Storm duo without answers in jarring vision as ugly stat laid bare<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Justin Holbrook and Phoenix Crossland.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe weren\u2019t there today, but from a coaching point of view, the boys they tried so hard. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut against the class of what we\u2019re playing, you can\u2019t give them that many opportunities, and fumble away, we just made way too many rookie errors if you want to use that word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the positives is that lots of guys are getting plenty of games and obviously need a rest. We\u2019ve got some senior guys out there that are running themselves into the ground, and we\u2019re patching them up, they get out there, and then we\u2019re relying on the youth and they\u2019re playing week in, week out, and it\u2019s tough in this competition. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019re getting some tough lessons, but we\u2019ll be better for it as the weeks go on.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Not only was Holbrook happy Ponga will be at the club until 2030 at least, he is hoping to have him and a host of other stars back on deck next week against Souths. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery encouraging for everyone involved in our club,\u201d Holbrook said of Ponga\u2019s re-signing. <\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/newsletter-sign-up?utm_source=NRLArticle&amp;utm_medium=TextLink&amp;utm_campaign=signup\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NRL Wrap: Storm fall to all-time low | 04:52<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw what we were capable of those first couple of games of the year, when you\u2019re lucky you\u2019re at full strength and that\u2019s what we\u2019re gonna base it off. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re doing it tough at the moment, but to get him back on the field and a host of others is exactly what we need. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot making excuses. We didn\u2019t play good enough today and we played a classy opposition, so we\u2019re going into games confident of winning it, but if we\u2019re not gonna play at our best, then we\u2019re not gonna get the results. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo a lot of tough lessons for a lot of guys, but a lot of young guys playing plenty of minutes at NRL level, so we\u2019ll be better in the long run, but not today.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Knights skipper Phoenix Crossland was excited to have Ponga commit his long-term future to the club for the next four years. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s massive for the club, massive for the team,\u201d Crossland said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst and foremost, Kalyn is one of my best mates, so to see him here for another three years is outstanding.<\/p>\n<p>Reed to remain at HB despite thrashing | 00:51<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s our captain. He leads this club and it\u2019s good that he\u2019s here for another three years, it\u2019s really exciting.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Holbrook is hoping to have Ponga, Bradman Best and Greg Marzhew back next week as well as Tyson Frizell. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just gotta have another good week and we\u2019ve got to get on with it,\u201d Holbrook said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the left edge that played in Round 1 we didn\u2019t have anyone in that position today, so we\u2019re confident maybe having them all back next week. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes a huge difference for four players all alongside each other to play together, get used to each other and get the combinations, which we worked hard in pre-season to mix guys around, so they would be OK with it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it\u2019s hard when you\u2019re playing good sides and then you\u2019re not hanging onto the ball yourselves. It\u2019s very hard to trouble them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>However Holbrook wouldn\u2019t be drawn on who in the spine will miss out when Ponga returns. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll work that out next week because you learn quickly, you can\u2019t get ahead of yourself and you never know who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out, so we\u2019ll get to sit down and hopefully Tuesday we have the luxury of making a choice, so that\u2019ll be great and I\u2019d love to do that,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Justin Holbrook is looking forward to welcoming back a host of stars including recently re-signed skipper Kalyn Ponga&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,30903,299749,4591,305948,72590,292335,252311,4746,4466,761,762,4495,158,4598,291015,305950,163490,231420,85,82635,118774,305949,106245],"class_list":{"0":"post-631677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-coaching-point","11":"tag-dean-young","12":"tag-dylan-edwards","13":"tag-experience-back","14":"tag-justin-holbrook","15":"tag-kade-reed","16":"tag-line-speed","17":"tag-mark-st-john","18":"tag-melbourne-storm","19":"tag-national-rugby-league","20":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","21":"tag-newcastle-knights","22":"tag-nrl","23":"tag-penrith-panthers","24":"tag-quality-sides","25":"tag-re-signed-skipper","26":"tag-rookie-errors","27":"tag-senior-guys","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-stars-back","30":"tag-tough-lessons","31":"tag-troops-missing","32":"tag-young-guys"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}