KNIGHTS | Mitchell Pearce backs his under-fire young fullback Kalyn Ponga

Ponga has been heavily marked and his influence in attack blunted to some degree in consecutive weeks by the Cowboys, Manly and Parramatta.

Criticism of his performance in last Sunday's loss to the Eels came despite statistics that showed he ran for 208 metres from 29 runs and 55 touches of the footy and made a total of nine tackle breaks.

But while his involvement could not be faulted, coach Adam O'Brien admitted after the game he may have been guilty of trying too hard to spark a spluttering Knights attack.

Pearce defended his young fullback, declaring any criticism is a by-product of the ridiculously high standards he has set already in his career.

"When you are young and you've got all the ability and you have proven it plenty of times but are suddenly not setting the world on fire, people tend to come at you a bit with criticism," Pearce said.

"It's just part and parcel of it. The bar is right up there with Kalyn and people just have these expectations of where he should be at, week after week.

"KP, when he's playing really well and we're going really well, he's rightly getting the credit.

"But when we are not going quite as well, he's the one they are going to look to. That's what your marquee players deal with.

"From my point of view, I wouldn't want to be playing with anyone else there."

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Pearce agrees the team as a whole needs to work on it's attack but claims Ponga doesn't get the credit he deserves for the way the side is defending.

"As the fullback, he's in control of our defensive line and we are doing really well with that so he is doing lots of good stuff marshalling the boys from the back," he said.

"But he doesn't get any credit for that.

"As a whole group, not just him and me included, we all need to tidy up our execution when we've got the footy a bit better. There is no doubt about that."

Knights Immortal Andrew Johns admitted Ponga had been quiet in recent weeks and not performing to his usual high standard.

"The key is they have to get Kalyn Ponga in certain situations where it brings out the best in him," Johns said on the club's website. "At the moment, it's not happening."

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Johns believes the Knights attack functions far more potently if Ponga is stationed more on the left and centre Bradman Best is getting more quality ball.

"I think it's important they work on where Kalyn gets the ball and predominantly, it's down the left side,"he said.

"When you see him getting the ball down that left side, instead of getting the ball out the back on one of those block plays, he needs to get the ball going straight at the defensive line which opens up his footwork to go inside or outside."

Ominously, Johns believes the Knights are going to need Ponga at his very best if they are to topple the improving Rabbitohs.

"I think they need a 9 out of 10 from Kalyn for them to beat the Bunnies," he said.

"Adam Reynolds last week, it's the best game I've seen him play in a couple of years and it was simple - he ran the ball. He mixed his game up, took the line on and made a couple of great breaks."

Johns said he is looking forward to the individual match-ups between Reynolds and Mitchell Pearce in the halves and Best and James Roberts in the centres.

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