Kalyn Ponga stars as Knights thump Cowboys 42-6
Former Cowboy Kalyn Ponga made his debut club pay in Newcastle with two tries in the Knights’ thumping 42-6 victory over an awful North Queensland outfit in the Hunter.
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Underfire Queensland Origin star Kalyn Ponga roared back into form on Saturday, spearheading a 42-6 carve-up of the Cowboys in Newcastle to keep the Knights’ slender finals hopes alive.
In the lead up to the clash at McDonald Jones Stadium, two-time premiership coach Phil Gould gave Ponga a reality check, questioning his consistency and ability to lead the Knights to the playoffs.
But the Maroons ace responded in emphatic fashion, reprising his attacking brilliance to post two tries, two line breaks and six tackle busts to snap Newcastle’s six-match losing streak.
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Ponga was ably supported by NSW Origin halfback Mitchell Pearce, who also posted a double and set-up another try with a sublime 62nd-minute short ball for Mitch Barnett to bury North Queensland.
The season can’t end quickly enough for the injury-ravaged Cowboys. Paul Green’s troops crashed to their fifth consecutive defeat and the 36-point margin represented their heaviest loss of the season, plunging North Queensland into third-last spot.
“The last 20 minutes was unacceptable,” Green lamented.
“If we went to half-time behind 12-6 I would have been happy, but that try (to Ponga just before half-time) was disappointing.
“We have been in the hunt, there were a few ‘if-only’ games and we’ve had some narrow losses ... but this was really disappointing.”
The Cowboys disposal moved the Knights within one win of the top eight on 20 competition points ahead of their final three games against Wests Tigers (a), the Titans (h) and Penrith (a).
It is hard to believe North Queensland’s latest season of woe. They were tipped to make the top eight. Instead, they are decaying in the bottom four.
Granted, injuries haven’t helped their cause, but the Cowboys have largely engineered their own demise.
They lack the mental toughness to close out games, Michael Morgan hasn’t stepped up to replace the talismanic Johnathan Thurston and their ruck and tryline defence is shoddy.
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The Knights needed just four sets to post three line breaks, triggering a Newcastle onslaught as Ponga and Pearce crossed inside nine minutes for a 12-0 lead.
With a rout looming, North Queensland showed a semblance of fight, halfback Jake Clifford slicing through in the 28th minute to offer hope at 12-6
But Newcastle always had more to play for and shifted gears after the break to consign the Cowboys to their latest Knightmare.
NEWCASTLE 42 (M Pearce 2 K Ponga 2 M Barnett M Lino S Mata’utia tries M Lino 7 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 6 (J Clifford try J Kahu goal) at McDonald Jones Stadium. Referee: Phil Henderson, Grant Atkins. Crowd: 16,752
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