Newcastle Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga driven to succeed in NRL finals after return from foot injury

Kalyn Ponga has been out to prove a point on returning from his foot injury and it’s the major reason Newcastle are playing NRL finals.

The Knights’ top-eight credentials appeared in disarray when Ponga was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot as the side sat 15th on the ladder through seven rounds.

But after Newcastle held themselves together in his absence, Ponga hit top gear on return for the final two months of the regular season.

The fullback was the difference between the Knights and the Dolphins in a 14-6 win on Sunday that confirmed Newcastle would clinch the last remaining top-eight spot.

Ahead of Saturday’s elimination final against North Queensland in Townsville, Ponga put his form down to a mindset shift during an 11-week lay-off.

“Coming back from my injury, I sort of felt like I had a point to prove,” Ponga said.

“Just proving that the best version of myself is the best. When you’re injured, you’re not really the best version of yourself. You’re coming back from rehab, you’re doing all that.

“Once I’m on the field, I want to be the best version of myself so just making sure I do everything day to day to do that.”

Ponga made a similarly emphatic return from injury towards the end of last season, shaking off a serious concussion to inspire a 10-game winning streak that stretched to the second week of finals.

“I’ve been injured the last half of each season so then I’m kind of timely at the back end,” Ponga said.

The Knights spent only three weeks in the top eight this season, the fewest for any finals team since Canberra in 2010, but Ponga always felt the side was play-off material.

“We’ve seemed to put it together at the right time over the last three, four, five weeks (but) it’s not a coincidence,” he said.

“I think we’ve just stuck at what we thought was happening, what we were doing right and it’s sort of just coming along.”

Ponga returns to his old stomping ground with the Knights this Saturday, having made his NRL debut on the wing in the Cowboys’ 2016 semi-final win over Brisbane.

The 26-20 win ranks among the former Cowboy’s best memories on a rugby league field.

“It all happened very quick - young 18-year-old with no idea what was really going on, how big the occasion and everything was.

“Being naive and young was probably in a way a favour, not really understanding the work that had been done to get into that position.

“I was lucky to have some good leaders at the time, obviously JT (Jonathan Thurston), Michael Morgan, Matt Scott, Gavin Cooper, Lachie Coote. All these players are legends of the game.

“It was probably one of my favourite experiences, really.”