All the talk in the lead-up to Newcastle’s clash with the Dolphins was the millions they splashed on Eels five-eighth Dylan Brown to join them next year for a decade.
Their current marquee man, Kalyn Ponga, has had his huge price tag questioned at times over the course of his Knights career but there was no doubt about it on Thursday night as he put in a perfect performance to propel his team to an emphatic 26-10 victory.
Ponga came up with three try assists in the first half as the Knights scooted out to a 20-0 lead and with the fullback playing as a psuedo halfback, the Dolphins had no answers.
Newcastle are 2-0 to start the season and judging by that small sample size, should be in the playoff equation at the business end of the season.
The Dolphins went down by two to Souths in Round 1 and have faced disruptions due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred, but there were no excuses for their lack of discipline or attacking threat in Newcastle.
1. Ponga ain’t half hot
“He’s dead set wearing the seven, Ponga,” said the most famous wearer of that jersey, Andrew Johns on Nine commentary.
Ponga has previously been twice tried at five-eighth and both stints ended abruptly as he was quickly relocated back to fullback.
He now seems to have mastered the art of being a playmaker when needed while also fulfilling the fullback role.
Jack Cogger is a solid organiser and young gun Fletcher Sharpe is finding his feet at five-eighth after being move in-field from the wing so for the Knights to put points on the board, they need Ponga’s brilliance.
And he was a game-changer in every way against the Dolphins – he created the initial space for the first try, provided the pass for the second, third and fourth and basically had the defenders in a trance-like state whenever he had his hands on the Steeden in the red zone, curling around from the back or jumping in at first or second receiver.
The way he had Dolphins centre Jake Averillo clutching at air for Dane Gagai’s try was rugby league alchemy.
Kalyn Ponga. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Ponga deceived his on-rushing defender by moving late to take a long pass a couple of the metres to the right of where Averillo thought he would be receiving it and then
“That’s as good as it gets from KP. That’s unbelievable,” Johns added as he gawked at the replays.
“He’s looking at the ball but out of the corner of his right eye he can see Averillo coming. He moves about two metres. I’m so happy I’m here to watch that.”
2. Knights showing some steel
They have won just one playoff match despite making the finals three times under Adam O’Brien’s five-year watch.
If Ponga stays on the field and remains in this kind of form, they have the ingredients to do some damage in the post-season.
Raiders recruit James Schiller touched down twice within the first 13 minutes as they opened up a 10-0 lead on the Dolphins.
The scores could have been locked at 6-6 after Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow touched down after a Kodi Nikorima break but the Bunker correctly crossed it off due to Felise Kaufusi being comatose as a sleeper in the way of the Newcastle markers.
There was conjecture over the second try with Gagai clipping Averillo as he ran through on a decoy but the Bunker ruled it was a poor defensive read, continuing a theme this year where the onus is more on the defensive line to make the right call rather than cry foul for an obstruction when there is incidental contact.
Ponga’s class sucked in Herbie Farnworth to open up the tryline for Bradman Best and after his superb skills set up Gagai, the home side led by 20 with 13 minutes left in the first half.
Dolphins half Isaiya Katoa created a try for Mark Nicholls before the break to halt Newcastle’s momentum but second-rower Dylan Lucas swung it back towards the hosts a few minutes after the restart for a 26-6 advantage.
Katoa dummied his way over in the 67th minute to send a slight flutter through the Newcastle camp but the gap was too much for the visitors to reel in.
Newcastle could have judiciary trouble to answer from the match review committee after Kai Pearce-Paul was sin-binned late in the contest for high contact after leading with his shoulder in a tackle on Daniel Saifiti.
3. Dolphins dour in attack
The Dolphins lacked discipline, were guilty of a couple of dopey rollball turnovers in possession and were dour in attack even when they were close to the try line.
There was no spark in anything they did with the ball with most sets replicating the headline of this article – five hit-ups and a kick.
Katoa is a rising star but it all appears to be on his shoulders.
Jeremy Marshall-King is a busy operator at hooker, Kodi Nikorima can have his moments at five-eighth and Tabuia-Fidow is one of the most dynamic attackers in the NRL when he’s in open space but they rely on their halfback to pretty much always be the catalyst.
But unless Katoa can conjure up a half-chance, the Dolphins just seem to go through their motions.
4. Twins rip in for cameo clash
The Saifiti twins were going up against each other for the first time, apart from clashes in the backyard on the Central Coast.
Daniel switched to the Dolphins in the off-season after being told by the Knights that he was free to leave due to their tight salary cap.
And right from the kick-off he was ripping into his identical twin front-rower with Daniel running straight at Jacob from the kick-off only to be greeted by a crunching tackle.
Perhaps he was feeling too comfortable being back at McDonald Jones Stadium because he passed to an old Newcastle teammate a few minutes later to bring a Dolphins attacking raid to a premature end.
And when Jacob got to return a kick-off, he returned the favour with Daniel combining with Kaufusi to send him sprawling.
Funnily enough they were both replaced after 24 minutes with Jacob bothered by a thigh problem and Daniel receiving treatment for a neck injury.
Jacob stayed off while Daniel came back in the second half but copped a high shot from Pearce-Paul to complete an unhappy homecoming for the former NSW Origin forward.
5. Farnworth not proving his worth
The Dolphins are not getting anywhere near enough value from their English international centre.
Farnworth was lured from the Broncos 18 months ago with the possibility of getting to play his preferred position of fullback part of the sales pitch.
But Tabuai-Fidow beat him for the No.1 jersey and Farnworth has been used only at right centre.
He scored eight tries in his 20 appearances for the Dolphins last year – it wasn’t like he was ineffective but he did not have much of an impact either.
This year is shaping up to be a similar story unless they can get him clean ball early.
Whether he needs to take the initiative or be told to go searching for the ball, they need to get him away from the one channel of the field and popping up all over the place to make the most of his attacking prowess.
The Kick: Woolf needs to make his mark
The Wayne Bennett hoodoo talk will start to flare up if Kristian Woolf cannot get this Dolphins team putting up a better showing than what they dished up against the Knights.
An 0-2 start to the year is not a reason to panic but after lacking attacking polish in their narrow first-up loss to the Rabbitohs, it was again on show in Newcastle.
Woolf has a reputation for being a disciplinarian but the Dolphins were lacking in this area in their loss to the Knights.
Rollballs at dummy-half, pushed passes in attack, Kaufusi getting in the way of what could have been a try by being lazy in the ruck area and a lack of attention to detail throughout the match made it a night to forget for the Redcliffe club.
They have a chance to get back to normal at their home base next week after being shunted around due to the effects of the cyclone which swamped South-East Queensland.
And they need to turn their season around with five straight matches in their region, starting with next Saturday’s stoush with the Tigers in Redcliffe.
