Sporting Declaration: Why the Knights aren't wavering on Ponga's switch

The men who hand out the Baggy Greens, however, have a more conservative viewpoint and hence Maxwell, for the majority of his career, has been pigeon-holed as a white-ball specialist.

The swashbuckling all-rounder is probably not complaining too much.

He's helped Australia win 50-over and Twenty20 World Cups, and his prowess in the short formats has ensured he ranks as one of the highest-paid cricketers of all time, given he is invariably among the most sought-after commodities in the annual Indian Premier League auction.

But still, I can't help wondering if he had more to offer.

Maxwell has played seven Tests, most recently in 2017, and his batting average of 26.07 isn't particularly flattering.

But all those Tests were on foreign soil, against India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Australian batsmen have traditionally tended to struggle.

He scored a Test century in India, which is no mean feat, and imagine what he might have been able to achieve had he ever been given a chance in home conditions, on the best batting pitches in the world.

Batting at six or seven, he could potentially have turned Test matches like Adam Gilchrist once did, back in his counter-attacking heyday.

Throw in his brilliant fielding and handy off-spinners and I reckon he could have been a valuable asset who worried the life out of rival teams.

But of course, it would have been a risk.

Maxwell's spectacular hitting and remarkable range of shots might not have been much use on a green seamer at Headingley, or when the Aussies are desperately trying to block it out on a fifth-day minefield to salvage a draw.

To be a batsman who handles all conditions, all scenarios, at Test level, a sound defence and temperament is required, and perhaps that is why the selectors have continually overlooked him.

In saying that, had Maxwell played in more Tests, he would have had more opportunity to prove himself.

How Marcus Harris, for example, has played twice as many Tests as Maxwell, despite averaging 25.29 and boasting a top score of 79, blows my mind.

Yet somehow Harris has won a spot in this year's Ashes squad and Maxwell didn't even feature in discussions.

For whatever reason, the selectors have more faith in Harris, and more willingness to persevere, than they do in Maxwell.

All of which brings me, in a roundabout fashion, to Kalyn Ponga and the great debate about whether he should play fullback or five-eighth.

In many ways, Ponga at fullback is the Glenn Maxwell of the NRL.

He has more trick shots and natural ability than 99 per cent of players in the competition. He's got speed, dazzling footwork and the ability to create tries with short balls and cut-out passes.

In a four-on-four or three-on-three situation, he'll embarrass defenders without breaking sweat.

As a fullback, as he showed with his man-of-the-match performance in last year's State of Origin decider, he's a unique weapon with the ball in hand.

Yet by switching him to five-eighth, Knights coach Adam O'Brien is expecting him to evolve from an out-and-out attacking dynamo into an all-rounder with a rock-solid defence.

There are two fairly well-documented issues with this.

The first is Ponga's recent history of concussions. The more tackles he has to make, logic would suggest, the more chance he is of copping another head knock.

Secondly, as he showed in Newcastle's 43-12 loss to Parramatta two weeks ago, there is not a great deal of evidence that Ponga has a sound defensive technique.

He missed eight tackles against the Eels, and across his 101-game NRL career, he has missed 189 - almost a third - of the 606 tackles he has attempted.

After his performance against the Eels, a host of highly qualified experts, such as Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Cameron Smith, called for Ponga to be removed from the front line and reinstated at fullback.

O'Brien, however, has shown no signs of wavering and Newcastle's marquee man is again expected to start at pivot in Sunday's clash with Gold Coast at McDonald Jones Stadium.

It's a gamble and there's not much margin for error, especially as Ponga will be the No.1 target for every team the Knights play.

Another loss or two, and Newcastle may as well kiss their play-off hopes goodbye, at which point O'Brien's future will start attracting serious scrutiny. Ponga, meanwhile, might well find himself surplus to requirements when Queensland name their team for Origin I.

Yet unlike the Australian cricket selectors with Maxwell, O'Brien has apparently weighed up the risk-versus-reward equation and arrived at a positive conclusion.

He's confident this can work. Ponga is confident it can work.

The only way it can work is if they stick to their guns and give it a decent chance, which O'Brien's predecessor Nathan Brown was reluctant to do back in 2019.

How this pans out remains to be seen, but fortune, as they say, has a habit of favouring the brave.

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