Knights star Kalyn Ponga says he has been given a roving commission by coach Adam O'Brien and has dismissed suggestions his attack has suffered in recent weeks because he is not spending enough time on Newcastle's lethal left edge.
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Ponga's combination with left centre Bradman Best and winger Edrick Lee was responsible for producing several early season tries for the Knights after the resumption of the premiership following the shutdown.
But over the past few weeks, the tries have dried up on that edge with Ponga spending more time in and around the ruck and outside skipper Mitchell Pearce on the right.
The tactics have been questioned by some fans and commentators including Matthew Johns and Michael Ennis but Ponga makes no apologies for wanting to become a more rounded fullback by picking and choosing where he attacks and O'Brien has no issue with him.
"That sort of commentary I'm not worried about," O'Brien told the Newcastle Herald. "That's probably been the problem in the past, worrying about what side Kalyn is attacking on and how he is attacking.
"The game plan last week wasn't to go right or go left, it was to have high completions and go through the middle and build pressure."
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Ponga says he does not want to be a permanent fixture stuck on one side of the ruck.
"For the first couple of years, I kind of did sit on the left but I don't want to do that - I've got a bit more of a licence," Ponga said.
"All the best fullbacks - Billy [Slater], Teddy [James Tedesco] - they are all over the park so that's what I want to be doing."
Asked if he had fully adjusted to the roaming role, Ponga said: "I don't know if its adjusting. Obviously, I'm still learning.
"I think it's combinations between the halves as well with obviously Macca [hooker Andrew McCullough] being in there. I feel like me and Kurt [Mann] is pretty good. Me and Pearcey, we're always evolving and getting better talking to each other and working on that connection."
Despite the criticism, Ponga says he hasn't felt like he has neglected the left side of his side's attack in recent weeks and in not conscious of spending more time there.
"No, I don't think about that, I just want to get the ball more," he said.
"I don't really think I can only do that on the left or I should only do that on the left. I want to be able to get the ball everywhere."
O'Brien admits his side's attack has been the least of his worries over the past couple of weeks.
"Our attack is still a work in progress but it wasn't something we really concentrated on a whole lot last week," he said.
"I said to the team this afternoon, and I was completely honest, that I would have taken a 2-0 loss before I would have accepted a 34-32 win last weekend.
"I thought we had to go back and fix up a lot of defensive stuff that we had as part of our DNA in the early rounds that we'd started over-looking. So, we didn't give them much attack last week because I wanted the performance we got and I stand by that.
"Because of that defensive focus, Kalyn would have just been trying to get himself involved without worrying where he always needed to be.
"Our attack is going to get better. We can definitely add to it but we can't do that until we get our defence DNA sorted and completely ingrained because we keep leaving it behind every now and again.
"Scoring 22 points in Townsville wasn't the reason we lost. Some of playmakers have been a bit quiet in the last couple of games but that's not what we needed to go back and fix up, we needed to fix our defence.
"If I start jumping at people commenting about our attack, I'm sending the wrong message to the team."
