The moment stunned Ponga learned \u2018shattering\u2019 Origin news<\/a><\/p>\nHolbrook praises ‘professional’ Knights | 07:47<\/p>\n
PONGA WINDING IT BACK IN ATTACK <\/p>\n
The Knights\u2019 attack in 2026 when Ponga plays is now rivalling the mind-boggling numbers from the club\u2019s glory years when Andrew Johns was in his prime. <\/p>\n
Johns took Newcastle to their most-recent premiership in 2001 and that star-studded side averaged 30.8 points per game. <\/p>\n
The Knights were a different team when Johns played and the same stark contrast is now being seen with Ponga. <\/p>\n
This season they have averaged just 21 points per game without Ponga but with him that number skyrockets to 37.5.<\/p>\n
Knights slay Dragons in Wollongong | 03:16<\/p>\n
FIVE OF THE BEST<\/p>\n
Greg Marzhew equalled the Newcastle record of most tries in a match, joining Edrick Lee in finishing a game with five to his name. <\/p>\n
Lee did it against the Titans in 2022 and Marzhew etched his name into the record books in the dying stages after also scoring in the 7th, 23rd, 53rd and 57th minutes. <\/p>\n
Marzhew finished with 213 run metres from 18 carries that produced 12 tackles busts and seven line breaks to go with his tries. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest I\u2019m just as shocked as you guys\u2026 Kalyn and Bradman make my job so much easier,\u201d Marzhew said on Fox League. <\/p>\n
Greg Marzhew had a big game.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
ORIGIN WATCH<\/p>\n
Kalyn Ponga looks a certainty to be picked in Billy Slater\u2019s Queensland squad next week and could pip Broncos star Reece Walsh for the No. 1 jersey. <\/p>\n
Knights centre Bradman Best has put his hand up for a NSW recall to replace either Latrell Mitchell who is under an injury cloud. <\/p>\n
Conversely, Queensland veteran Valentine Holmes admitted last week he\u2019s down on form and he endured another tough afternoon on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis defensive efforts and reads have not been anywhere near what he prides himself on… I do not think we will see him in a Queensland jersey. But when they put a Queensland jersey on, they do grow another leg,\u201d Luke Keary says in commentary for Fox League.<\/p>\n
Greg Marzhew dominated while Bradman Best and Kalyn Ponga had big games.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
EARLY RESOLVE CRUMBLES<\/p>\n
The Dragons looked far more intent in defence in the opening 10 minutes with some crunching tackles on their own line, but it didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
Responding to setbacks was the focus this week after getting thrashed by the Roosters last week but not much changed in Wollongong on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a training run,\u201d Luke Keary said at one point on Fox League.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve now conceded 106 points in the two games since sacking coach Shane Flanagan.<\/p>\n
Ponga stunned by Dearden injury news | 00:41<\/p>\n
STAT ATTACK (via Fox Lab)<\/p>\n
– Newcastle only started 8 sets for the entire match in the attacking zone (from outside their own 40) highlighting how deadly their attack was from long range – and how poorly the Dragons defended<\/p>\n
– It was the Knights\u2019 biggest win and highest score since 2023<\/p>\n
– 13 straight losses for the Dragons, the equal fourth longest losing streak in the NRL Era.<\/p>\n
– First time they have lost four consecutive games at Wollongong. <\/p>\n
– Dragons have conceded 106 points in their past two games. <\/p>\n
– Knights\u2019 equal second biggest win against the Dragons and their biggest win against them since 2006 (54-6 in Wollongong)<\/p>\n
– Knights led 32-0 at half time – their biggest lead at the break in over a decade (36-0 v Titans in 2013)<\/p>\n
– Knights made 14 linebreaks to 1<\/p>\n
– Dom Young snapped a three game try drought with his 22nd career double. His 255 run metres and 5 linebreaks are both career second bests. <\/p>\n
– Kalyn Ponga was robbed of a MOM performance by Greg Marzhew\u2019s heroics. He set up two tries, had a hand in two others, and his 7 linebreak assists is the equal most for any player on record with Jarryd Hayne and Nicho Hynes. <\/p>\n
Fox Lab POTM: Greg Marzhew earned his place in the record books as just the second Knights player behind Edrick Lee to score five tries in a match. He also made seven linebreaks, the most for any player on record. He ran for over 200 metres and busted 12 tackles. He has eight tries in his past two games.<\/p>\n
Marzhew runs riot with FIVE tries | 01:34<\/p>\n
Follow all the action in our live blog below! Can\u2019t see the blog? CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga has the Knights at their attacking best as another masterclass from the superstar fullback guided his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-660289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660289","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=660289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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