A decision to send Kalyn Ponga for a head-injury assessment in Friday's season-opener is sure to attract attention after the star playmaker was denied the chance to try and lift Newcastle to a late victory over the Warriors in Wellington.
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With 12 minutes left to play at Sky Stadium, and the home side holding a 14-12 lead, Ponga was told to leave the field for the HIA after an earlier collision was picked up on video review.
The Knights skipper appeared shocked when told by referee Chris Sutton to depart on the orders of the NRL's independent doctor.
With Newcastle about to feed a scrum just 20 metres out from the try-line, Ponga was understandably angered by the call.
The Knights couldn't crack the Warriors in the ensuing set and the home side scored at the other end a few minutes later to set up their 20-12 win.
Ponga went close to putting the Knights in front shortly before leaving the field, but was held up over the try-line after taking a run from close range.
Newcastle had the momentum at the time of his removal and Knights coach Adam O'Brien will surely have been left frustrated by the decision.
A replay later showed Ponga's head coming into contact with Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake's leg.
Given Ponga sat out the final six games of the last season due to repeat head-knocks, it is hard to imagine Knights officials complaining about the call.
Playing his first competition game at five-eighth since round three, 2019, Ponga made a promising start setting up Lachlan Fitzgibbon for a try inside two minutes.
The 24-year-old playmaker went to the line on the left edge and found Fitzgibbon running an inside angle on his outside.
It was a play they've combined for in the past and one they would have rehearsed countless times at training, but it's one we haven't seen enough in recent times.
With concerns about whether he would be up to the task defensively in the front-line, Ponga made a couple of strong tackles early in the game but he rushed out of the line midway through the first half which exposed an overlap and the Warriors scored to make it 6-4.
Newcastle's other new spine players also had a mixed game, but showed glimpses of their potential to orchestrate overall improvement this season.
A month after arriving as a late off-season recruit from Cronulla, fullback Lachlan Miller scurried around the park on several occasions, displaying his exemplary lateral movement and craftiness as a ball-runner that were no doubt hallmarks of his game as an Australian rugby sevens player.
But Miller sent a kick-off sailing over the sidelines after Newcastle conceded their first try and it proved costly as the Warriors scored a couple of minutes later to take a 10-6 lead.
In his first game for the Knights, halfback Jackson Hastings was steady controlling play. Two of his kicks led to goal-line dropouts, but there were a couple more that he could have placed better.
The 27-year-old dropped a routine pass at first-receiver when Newcastle had an attacking set 10 minutes into the second half and the error allowed the Warriors to power downfield and score their third try.
Hastings and Ponga combined with a couple of quick passes five minutes after the break to help Hymel Hunt score Newcastle's second, the winger catching the ball with one hand before sprinting for the corner.
The loss will make for a grim trip back across the ditch, but Ponga, Hastings and Miller all offered some hope that Newcastle can be an improved outfit in 2023.
Indeed, they all said they wouldn't be perfect from round one and can only build on their performances from here.
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