Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga is set to miss for the State of Origin series decider after limping off with a Lisfranc injury in his team’s 22-18 loss to Canberra in Newcastle on Friday.
Queensland’s fullback in the first two Origin encounters, Ponga reached for his left foot or ankle after being tackled by Morgan Smithies in the 60th minute and immediately waved to the sideline for attention.
After being assessed by a trainer, he limped from the field and did not return. On Saturday the Knights confirmed he had suffered a Lysfranc injury. A similar problem last season forced him to undergo mid-season surgery and sidelined him for 10 weeks.
“Ponga will begin his rehabilitation with Knights medical staff, with the view of returning to play in the back end of the season,” the club said in a statement on Saturday.
Queensland coach Billy Slater is expected to name his team on Sunday for Origin III, to be played at Accor Stadium on July 9. There was already debate about whether Ponga would be chosen for the decider, given his underwhelming recent form and the recent return from injury of Brisbane dynamo Reece Walsh.
“He’ll need to go and get scans,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said after the game.
“All I know at the moment is it’s a foot injury ... he’s tough. He doesn’t come off for just about anything. You’ve got to drag him off the field with a tow truck normally, so it’s probably not a good sign.”
By the time Ponga was injured, Canberra were well on their way to their sixth successive win, which lifted them to top rung on the NRL ladder.
Kalyn Ponga suffered a foot injury on Friday night.Credit: Getty Images
Before the round-17 clash kicked off, the Raiders were in second position, two points behind Canterbury, despite having won 12 games to the Bulldogs’ 11.
Friday’s success lifted Canberra level with Canterbury on 28 points, but they have a superior for-and-against record and two extra wins in the bank.
With eight games to play, the Green Machine are now on track to finish the regular season on top of the table for only the second time in their history.
Their only previous minor premiership was in 1990, when they progressed to win the second of back-to-back grand finals.
Canberra celebrate a try against Newcastle.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s still, how many games to go, eight or nine?” Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.
“There’s so much of the season to go. We won’t be getting ahead of ourselves, I promise you.“
Continuing on that theme, Stuart was not satisfied with his team’s second half against Newcastle.
“I’ll take any win, but the last 15 or 20 minutes we weren’t the team we have to be,” he said.
“We played to the scoreboard ... we let them back into the game.”
Stuart revealed the Raiders had taken inspiration from veteran prop Josh Papalii, who opted to play instead of staying with his wife as she gave birth to a baby son in Canberra.
They were a class above struggling Newcastle on Friday, and their four-man contingent of ex-Knights – Joseph Tapine, Tom Starling, Zac Hosking and Simi Sasagi – played leading roles.
Sasagi, who played 17 NRL games for the Knights before joining Canberra last year, drew first blood in the 16th minute when he chased an Ethan Strange chip kick and outleapt Ponga to score.
Nine minutes later, back-rower Hosking – a home-grown Newcastle junior – offloaded in a tackle close to the line and dynamic fullback Kaeo Weekes dived over.
Canberra halfback Jamal Fogarty.Credit: Getty Images
A blindside raid in the 29th minute, involving an exchange of passes between Starling and Sasagi, created a try for five-eighth Strange, leaving the Knights facing a 16-0 half-time deficit.
It was the ninth tryless first half this season for Newcastle.
The Knights finally responded 11 minutes after the break when they exposed Canberra’s right edge and Ponga sent winger James Schiller over.
Just as the Knights were showing some signs of fighting back, Strange picked up a loose ball and linked with winger Jed Stuart, who scored his second try in as many NRL games.
Another Newcastle try, by bench forward Jermaine McEwen from dummy-half in the 64th minute, left them 22-12 in arrears.
Then ex-Raider Schiller scored his second try in the 75th minute, and centre Dane Gagai’s conversion made it a four-point ball game.
The Raiders dug deep in the dying stages to bank two more competition points.