Ponga cries after the final blow to the head
Confused Knights captain Kalyn Ponga feels like he has let his team-mates down after another concussion forced him off the pitch just eight minutes into Newcastle’s 42-12 loss to Sydney Roosters at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
Ponga wept in the Newcastle dressing room after missing a head injury assessment – his fifth HIA of the season – and suffered his third concussion in the last six weeks after being hit by a high tackle by Roosters supporter Matt Lodge.
The Queensland winner tried to get inside Lodge in the eighth minute but Lodge’s left arm hit him in the jaw, then the back of his head hit the ground as he fell.
“He’s upset right now. He wants to come back and do well at the club, especially after Origin, but we will go through this week-long process,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien told reporters at a post-match media conference.
“He already has a partner [of these] but I’m more worried about how upset he is right now. He was quite emotional and he felt like he let everyone down, but in the end, he got hit on the head – and he has a partner – so we have to go and see it all.”
O’Brien provides an update on Ponga
O’Brien said Ponga, who earlier this season signed a rich new five-year contract with the Knights, will see concussion specialist Dr Chris Levi at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital in the coming days for further assessment and examination.
While it has been suggested that the Knights should consider closing Ponga for the season now that the final is out of reach, O’Brien said it’s too early to speculate on such a move.
“He is emotionally upset because he feels he has let the team down a bit.”
Knights trainer Adam O’Brien
“He’s obviously going to go and see Chris Levi for a week and we’ll go from there,” he said. “But I think it’s probably too early for me to comment too much when I’m not really an expert in all that stuff, so we’re just going to send it to people who know more than me.
Rooster trainer Trent Robinson feels for Ponga but doesn’t believe Lodge, who was convicted of tackling, has a case to answer.
“It’s the opposition coach who says it, but honestly, I don’t think it’s much,” said Robinson.
“I feel really sorry for Kalyn, because it happened a few times… and it was very difficult for Newcastle. Once Kalyn leaves, you kind of know that they will struggle with their creativity behind every chance they get.
“But I think it cut the body and then up, then it cut through, and I think it was the head hitting the ground. I didn’t think it was that much.”
Utilities rooster Connor Watson, Ponga’s former housemate during their time as teammates at Newcastle, hopes his friend takes time off to rest and recuperate.
“It was weird to me because you’re trying to worry about the game then it happened to one of your best friends,” Watson told NRL.com before heading to Newcastle’s warehouse to check on his partner.
“He’s a tough character but that’s just one of those things, because the hit to the head is kind of unknown. There’s more and more knowledge about him now, so he should probably have a little time off, I think.
“I’m not so sure about the rules and other things, but hopefully he can have a bit of time off and work it out but it’s tough, you know. How do you control a hit to the head?
“It’s a contact sport, but I really feel it.”
Playing for Queensland, Ponga did not return after sustaining a last-minute head injury to Origin II in Perth on 26 June, and was relegated from Newcastle’s game against the Gold Coast five days later.
He missed the HIA against Penrith on June 12 and was sidelined, as was the case against the Roosters on Friday. Earlier this season, Ponga passed his HIA and returned to the field against Manly on April 7 and did the same against Parramatta on April 24.
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