Kalyn Ponga and Connor Watson could trade spots for Newcastle in 2019
NEWCASTLE could shake things up in 2019 and move superstar Kalyn Ponga away from his favoured position on a permanent basis.
RUMOUR MILL: Holmes all but gone
STAYING: Seibold won’t throw in the towel
NEWCASTLE could start the 2019 season with a shake up in their spine.
As Knights players returned for the first day of pre-season on Monday, coach Nathan Brown did not rule out a move for his star fullback Kalyn Ponga to the five-eighth position, but is in no rush to make a call on it.
Ponga played his final game of 2018 in the No. 6, when the Knights took down the Panthers 20-12 on the road in round 23.
Many believe his future lies in the halves and they could see more of him there as early as next year.
This pre-season will play a big part in determining how the Knights’ spine will take shape.
“We’ve had a couple of discussions with Kalyn and with Connor and Pearcey. We’ll sit down as a group,” Brown said.
“At the end of the day, what’s important, is we let those guys bring to the table what they bring … They’re two players who have a lot of confidence. Do they stand at six and one? We’ll decide that over the pre-season.
“They need to play a part in the decision-making, it is their careers.
“We’ll definitely practise a lot with KP and Connor in either position and we’ll see how that unfolds.”
Both Watson and Ponga underwent post-season surgery for groin and foot problems respectively but the Knights are hopeful they will be back to full training by early December.
If they do decide to test out a switch of roles, Brown is confident Watson will deliver at the back for him too.
“He probably played his best football for the Roosters at fullback,” Brown said.
“He’s played well there and has played some good games for us at six too.
“His combination with Mitch works quite well and him and Kalyn being best mates, I’m sure they’ll develop a combination in the field together.”
Returning Knights players took on 30-degree heat during their first hitout but it will be a couple of weeks yet before the new faces start arriving.
Former Cronulla players Jesse Ramien and Edrick Lee will commence training in two weeks’ time while Tim Glasby, who played in the grand final with Melbourne, will join at the end of the month.
The Knights remain tight-lipped about whether David Klemmer will join the club for 2019, but declared they are still active in the player market and are ready to swoop should a big name become available.
“If anything was to eventuate (with Klemmer) we’d talk about it then but at this stage we’re in the dark,” Brown said.
“We’ve made no secret that one or two players of that front row status … It’s a position with our cap we’ve planned to strengthen. We’ve thrown a few punches and had a few misses.
“As was the case with Kalyn and Mitchell (last year), we missed a few people in and around the traps. In recruitment I suppose you need an element of luck as well as be in a position with the finances to do it.
“Hopefully in the next four, six, eight weeks something falls our way in that area.”
They did bolster their back-row yesterday though, with Lachlan Fitzgibbon committing to the club for another two years.
“Lachie is certainly an improving players. Last year was quite clearly his best year,” Brown said.
“We all saw the combination he a Kalyn built together and his ability to score tries for a back rower is probably as good as any of the back rowers in the competition.”
Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Only on Foxtel. SIGN UP TODAY!
Originally published as Kalyn Ponga and Connor Watson could trade spots for Newcastle in 2019