Kalyn Ponga is drawing optimism about his playing future from how former Knights skipper Sione Mata'utia has been able to move past his concussion woes.
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As he prepares to return against North Queensland on Saturday week, Ponga spoke to the media on Friday for the first time since being knocked out in Newcastle's second-round NRL match.
After suffering what was his fourth concussion in 10 months, the marquee man admitted to having doubts about whether he would play again before a reassuring trip to Canada this month where underwent neurological tests that provided the "clarity" he needed to return.
But among the "confronting" first few days of uncertainty and media speculation about what he should do, Ponga revealed that he spoke to former teammate Mata'utia, who prior to leaving the Knights in 2020 had a string of concussions which threatened to end his career early.
The 26-year-old has continued playing, however, in England without issue.
"He went over there and ... still played the way he played, still trained the way he trained. So that was a positive for me," Ponga said.
"Again, there's opinions from everyone and I'm choosing which ones to listen to, but for me I'm not going to change the whole style of how I play.
"I still want to play the way I want to."
Despite calls from Knights legends Matthew and Andrew Johns, and others across the game, for the Knights to switch Ponga to fullback or defend him out wide to avoid the worst of the collisions, the 25-year-old is intent on returning at five-eighth, the position he switched to over summer.
"I'm definitely excited by that role, just like I was coming into the season," he said.
"Lachie [Miller] at the back is going amazing for us at the moment, so I'm keen to get back there and build upon that combination.
"I'll have to feel my way back into games a little bit, but I don't think it's going to be like I'm defending on a whole new position. The confidence I had going into the season, I should still hold that."
Ponga refuted a suggestion he may have to "revamp" his tackling style, but said he would work on his defence.
"Obviously there's been a little bit more detail on what I do," he said.
"Going into the season, I had done a lot of reps and to be honest I was feeling pretty confident about my tackle technique.
"The one that I got just previously was a head clash, and you could say I could have put my head here or whatnot, but ... I don't think I have to revamp my tackle technique.
"It's just about being a little bit smarter with my feet and my head and stuff like that."
The 25-year-old, who debuted in 2016 but will only play his 100th game next week - against his old club the Cowboys - wasn't sure about what would happen if he has further concussions.
"To be honest, I wasn't asking too much about having another one," he said.
"It's not that I don't want to know the answer, I'm just worried about myself now and worried about what I can control in this moment."
Opening up about his head knock in round two, Ponga said it was a "confronting" experience for not only himself, but his family as well with his mum at the ground.
He admitted briefly considering whether he would be able to continue playing.
"There was probably a few days there of uncertainty. I wasn't really too sure what was going on," he said. "I hadn't really spoken to anyone. The next thing I did know, I was going to Canada.
"To have that thought of you might have to stop playing, it was pretty weird. But ... going over to Canada and getting the clarity and reassurance, it just makes me really confident to play."
As part of his recovery, Ponga took a trip to Canada to undergo neurological testing not on offer in Australia.
The Knights announced last week he had been cleared by doctors to return, but he won't face Penrith today.
He said he was a certainty to play in Townsville and was building his fitness after missing the past four games.
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