KNIGHTS forward Kai Pearce-Paul says commentary that Newcastle would be also-rans this season without Kalyn Ponga has been "insulting", and helped inspire the club's past two wins.
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Ponga's foot injury in the 36-12 loss to Canterbury last month, a result which dropped Newcastle to 15th and a 2-5 record, led to a flood of publicity essentially writing the Knights off without their marquee man.
The skipper had been ruled out for an expected three months, and there was a line up of pundits claiming the Knights would struggle.
But without their star fullback, Newcastle have won their past two games against the Dolphins (18-14) and Warriors (14-8) and put themselves back in touch with the top eight, sitting 11th just a win behind the teams placed sixth to ninth.
"Hearing that is an insult," Pearce-Paul said of the suggestions that Newcastle couldn't win without Ponga.
"It's an insult to our team.
"We turned that into fuel and used it to drive ourselves and our performances."
Pearce-Paul, who has played every game this season and found a home on the left edge, felt the commentary had stung the entire the playing group.
Speaking to the Newcastle Herald after Sunday's win over the Warriors, another gritty display, the back-rower said the players, including Ponga's replacement David Armstrong, had wanted to prove their doubters wrong.
"Between us boys, we just had the mentality of let them write us off then," he said.
"We've got so much talent in this squad. 'Davey' coming in, we all trusted 'Davey' and know what he can do.
"We had that mentality of let them write us off and we used that as that fuel to go after games more.
"I'm not saying it's all just on that, but it's insulting when [people] are writing you off just because one player has gone down.
"It's something that was spoken about briefly, from some of the leadership boys."
The Knights now face lowly Wests Tigers (15th) in Tamworth on Saturday, followed by the Gold Coast Titans (16th) at Magic Round in Brisbane next week, before their first bye.
Representative forwards Tyson Frizell and Jacob Saifiti have been named to return from injury in the 3pm match at Scully Park.
After missing last week with a foot problem, Saifiti will make his return in the round 10 game from the interchange bench. Frizell, who hasn't featured since round four due a hamstring injury, goes straight into the back-row, forcing Dylan Lucas to the bench.
In another change, prop Jack Hetherington has been named 18th man.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien appears to have favoured Brodie Jones, who has played the past three games, on the bench. Phoenix Crossland has been named at No.14 despite a reported shoulder complaint.
Tigers coach Benji Marshall has recalled Jayden Sullivan to the NRL side to replace suspended halfback Aiden Sezer. Utility Latu Fainu is out with injury.
The Tigers have lost their past five games, beaten by the Bulldogs (22-14) last weekend after defeats to the Broncos (34-10), Panthers (22-6), Dragons (24-12) and Dolphins (26-16). They are placed 15th after two wins and six losses this campaign.
"We treat every game the same," Pearce-Paul said.
"Every team in this competition can put a game over you, so we don't treat them any differently.
"The Tigers are a very off-the-cuff team, you never know what they're going to throw at you. They can catch you out all the time.
"Hopefully, if we play well, and we focus more on ourselves, we can get the win."
Newcastle, who are 11th, last played in Tamworth in 2020, losing 36-6 to the Warriors. The only other NRL match they have played there was in 2018, when they beat the Tigers 22-20.
