NRL legends Cooper Cronk and Michael Ennis have queried whether the Knights are getting enough out of newly appointed captain Kalyn Ponga, while Gorden Tallis has tipped the club to "slide" this year and miss the finals.
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Speaking on Fox League on Wednesday night, four-time premiership winner Cronk questioned Ponga's commitment in recent seasons while Ennis claimed the star fullback's competitiveness had "deteriorated".
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Ennis, who played 20 matches for the Knights at the start of a 274-game career that culminated in a title with the Cronulla Sharks, said he "loved watching Ponga play" but was concerned he hadn't been competing as hard as he had in the past.
"When Kalyn Ponga first came into first grade, there was so much hype around him in terms of his talent, but he gave us all so much reassurance on his toughness by throwing his body with no respect, that he wasn't just fancy flick passes, cut-out passes and side steps - there was a genuine competitor in there," Ennis said.
"I feel like that has deteriorated at club football.
"We see it at Origin but I don't feel like we see it consistently for Newcastle, and that's what the town wants. That's what it is made up of, that's what it has been built on. That's what they'll want from their captain. They'll want him to commit to the club and show that commitment every single week, which we know he is capable of. He just has to produce it."
Cronk, meanwhile, said Ponga, who will lead the Knights out against his former club the Roosters on Saturday, was capable of driving Newcastle to a premiership if he becomes a more consistent player.
The former halfback agreed Ponga, 23, was worth the $1 million-plus he is reportedly paid per season.
"I think he is, I'd be all in on Ponga," Cronk said.
"But I just haven't seen it for 25 weeks. I've seen it in glimpses, I've seen it in big games, but if you want to win a comp you've got to do it all year long."
The Newcastle Herald approached the Knights for a response from Ponga and coach Adam O'Brien to the pundits' comments on Thursday.
O'Brien is due to speak with media on Friday.
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Ponga only acknowledged a few days ago that consistency across the season was how his side would improve on their consecutive seventh-place finishes.
As reported in the Herald on Monday, he said performance variances had been the Knights' "downfall" the past two years.
"Both years at some point in the season, our form [has dipped]," Ponga said.
"[What caused that] I don't really know.
"But we just have to maintain our standards around the place, our standards during training, what we do day to day. Consistency has been our downfall the last two years. If we maintain that and keep building we're only going to be better."
Former Queensland and Broncos enforcer Gorden Tallis, who started talking about the Knights when asked who was likely to collect the wooden-spoon, suggested the club's re-build commenced under former coach Nathan Brown had stalled.
"I think the Knights could be on the slide," Tallis said.
"They're supposed to be rebuilding.
"When Nathan Brown was there, they rebuilt. They haven't taken that next step to be ... a real consistent side."
In an interview with the Herald which will run in Saturday's paper, Knights coach Adam O'Brien says the club can improve this season.
"There's no doubt with probably the decade the club had, that there wasn't a lot of joy in terms of scoreboard or win and loss column. So it was never going to be an easy fix," O'Brien says.
"I feel like we've made some inroads - the club going back to [the] finals, but we're not in there long enough for my liking.
"I want to make sure we're in there for a hell of a lot longer this year. We've made improvements but we've still got a long way to go."
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