Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
Kalyn Ponga helped the Newcastle Knights beat the Parramatta Eels 28-22 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, just three days after his State of Origin send-off.
The Newcastle Knights captain said the challenge was more mental than physical after being fined for a grade-two shoulder charge on Tolu Koula in Origin I.
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Ponga opens up on Origin challenge
“It was more mentally (demanding),” Ponga said of backing up three days after such an emotional night.
“Physically, I actually felt pretty good out there, which is a credit to our staff, the way they handled the last 48 hours, and it’s all mentally like the build-up of Origin, obviously the way Origin unfolded, and then to sort of park it and mentally prepare for another game.
“I think now that I’m older, I’m probably better at doing it, but yeah, it’s all mental.
“I was excited to get back around the boys, around my teammates. Probably selfishly, I wanted to play with my mates. I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines. I wanted to be out there.”
Knights edge Eels in scrappy contest
Dylan Lucas was outstanding for Newcastle after returning from New South Wales camp, scoring twice and causing trouble on the left edge.
Jacob Saifiti also made his presence felt as the Newcastle Knights moved to 8-4 with their fourth straight win.
Both sides scored twice in the first half, with Newcastle taking a 12-10 lead into the break.
Harrison Graham then split Parramatta’s defence from dummy half early in the second half and ran 50 metres to score under the posts.
Parramatta rue missed chances
The game became messy after halftime, with both sides making handling errors during a scrappy 10-minute spell.
Lucas added his second try, Jordan Samrani answered for the Parramatta Eels, and Fletcher Hunt stretched Newcastle’s lead before Isaiah Iongi set up a nervous finish.
“It’s disappointing in the end,” Jason Ryles said of the loss.
“(I) thought we tried really hard, the effort was there, we fought really hard, but unfortunately execution let us down.
“I reckon we left probably four tries out there that were genuine tries, so another week of lessons, and just little moments in games that are so important that are fundamental, which hurts, but it’s part of the journey, and we’ve just got to keep fighting hard and working hard to make sure we don’t let that happen.