NRL SuperCoach: Five things we learned from Newcastle Knights vs Dolphins

Kalyn Ponga stole the show as the Knights dominated the Dolphins, who may be starting to wonder if the Wayne Bennett curse lives on. Here are five things we learned from Thursday night footy.

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Kalyn Ponga absolutely stole the show as the Newcastle Knights chalked up their second win of 2025, while Dolphins fans will be wondering if the Wayne Bennett Curse is still alive.

Even more importantly, a host of SuperCoach stars and prospects impressed, while others flopped.

See the big takeaways below and scroll down to replay our live coverage.

1. PONGA BOUNCES BACK

While he did score a respectable 82 points in round one, some of Kalyn Ponga’s SuperCoach owners may have been a bit disappointed last week. But all of his owner’s will be absolutely cheering this weekend, as the Knights fullback scored a whopping 124 points. Now his some of his owners will have a new headache … whether or not those who threw the VC on him will loop his score. So far, those who started the season with the three fullback combination of Ponga, Tom Trbojevic and Isaiah Iongi will be loving life.

2. SCHILLER EMERGES AS SURPRISE POD

After an impressive round one performance, where he scored 51 points without a try against the Tigers, former Raiders winger James Schiller impressed again in round two, finishing up on 79 points after scoring two. Tom Sangster mentioned him as someone on his radar earlier in the week on our SuperCoach teams podcast and he may garner some interest going forward. Only 1073 brave SuperCoaches have him in their teams so far, but that number could go up in the coming weeks. The main thing working against him is he is awkwardly priced at $515,300.

3. IS THE BENNETT CURSE STILL ALIVE?

Are the Dolphins a team to avoid in 2025? While its only round two, Dolphins fans may be starting to wonder if the Wayne Bennett curse is haunting them, after two losses to start the season, particularly since a literal cyclone forced them to relocate their match in Round 1. While the Bennett curse may not concern SuperCoaches too much, it may be worth keeping an eye on, since a handful of SuperCoach prospects failed to impress tonight.

4. DOLPHINS PROSPECTS FLOP

Speaking of SuperCoach prospects failing to impress, two guys that many people had their eyes on as potential trade targets in Tom Gilbert and Max Plath came crashing back to earth after solid scores in Round 1. While Gilbert’s 48 is somewhat respectable it has turned myself, (and I’m sure many others) off him, while Max Plath ended the game on just 40 points … a massive reality check after his 83 points last week.

5. OTHER KNIGHTS TO WATCH

While Ponga and Schiller will hog most of the spotlight, there are a few other Knights stars that stood out and are worth adding to your watchlists if you don’t already own them. Backrower Dylan Lucas had another great outing, finishing up on 90 points, with a try, a linebreak and whopping 60 points in pure base stats. The best thing about him is he retained the 2RF/CTW dual position. He is owned by 16.8% of SuperCoaches so he’s not a massive POD but I expect those numbers to rise in the coming weeks.

The other Knight worth mentioning is Fletcher Sharpe, who now has back-to-back scores of 83 and 81. While many SuperCoaches were not interested in starting the year off with a winger-turned five-eighth who cost $636,300, he may just prove to be worth the expensive price tag.

REPLAY OUR LIVE MATCH COVERAGE BELOW

Originally published as NRL SuperCoach: Five things we learned from Newcastle Knights vs Dolphins