KALYN Ponga bounced back from an early head knock to score a try for Newcastle but it was to little avail as the Cronulla Sharks swept to a 26-6 victory in Coffs Harbour on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In concerning scenes at the sold-out Ce.x Coffs International Stadium, Ponga was sent for a head-injury assessment in the third minute after bouncing off Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo.
It wasn't completely clear in video replays if Ponga's head had collided with Mulitalo but he stayed down on the turf after the tackle and was subsequently pulled from the field by Newcastle's trainer.
It was ruled a category-two incident and once Ponga passed his HIA he returned to the play after 15 minutes.
![Kalyn Ponga being sent for a head-injury assessment in Coffs Harbour. Picture Getty Images Kalyn Ponga being sent for a head-injury assessment in Coffs Harbour. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/bbc36f69-1440-4905-9bc5-58258b5bfcfd.jpg/r0_0_4764_3176_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The skipper made up for lost time when he crossed for Newcastle's opening try in the 19th minute to help level the scores at six-all, but it counted for little with the Sharks scoring another three unanswered tries to claim their third consecutive win over the Knights.
"It just looked like there was one team out there that had a whole lot of spark about it and looked very fast," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"We looked slow and in second gear.
"I thought at 12-6, we looked like we were in it, but once they got that next one at 18-6 - they looked even faster and we just couldn't go with them.
"They were very good at slowing us down and we were very good at letting them play it fast."
While they weren't embarrassed, Newcastle made some rookie errors that did not help their chances of a comeback.
They were clunky in attack and on multiple occasions players appeared to be arguing with each other, including an incident where Ponga failed to play the ball while verbally spraying a teammate.
"I've got to take complete ownership for that, I honestly thought it was [the] last [tackle]," Ponga said.
"I was spraying the dummy-half for the pass and that's completely my fault."
The loss leaves the Knights 11th on the ladder after 11 games but they could drop to 13th after this weekend's games.
Cronula will hold their spot in the top four.
The Sharks immediately attacked Ponga's side of the field after he left the field for his HIA but they scored a few minutes later on the opposite edge when fullback Will Kennedy sliced between Jackson Hastings and Dane Gagai.
Newcastle's defence was split again five minutes later when Connor Tracey burst out of dummy-half and took off downfield, passing to halfback Nicho Hynes who finished the job under the crossbar. But the play was called back by the Bunker for an obstruction when Tracey cut through the defensive line.
Knights back-rower Tyson Frizell went agonisingly close to scoring in the ensuing set but bobbled Tyson Gamble's grubber just centimetres away from the try-line.
Five minutes after coming back on the field, Ponga crossed for Newcastle's first try off the back of some strong runs from the Saifiti brothers, darting at the right-edge defence before passing to Bradman Best who threw the ball back to Ponga to score untouched.
Cronulla made Newcastle pay for turning the ball over in their own half a few sets later, scoring in the 27th minute through winger Ronaldo Mulitalo who strolled over on the left flank with ease to help his side take a 12-6 lead following the conversion.
The game went end to end for the remainder of the first half with Newcastle coming closest to adding any further points five minutes before half-time, but a Dane Gagai pass to an open Dom Young on the right edge failed to find its mark.
Cronulla struck again four minutes after the break when Connor Tracey got around Gagai, the Sharks centre leaving the veteran behind.
The try, which came after Sione Katoa had stripped the ball from Knights fullback Lachlan Miller, helped the Sharks take an 18-6 lead.
Cronulla kicked a penalty goal to move 14 points ahead in the 54th minute after Newcastle were penalised for being offside.
Royce Hunt then barged over in the 69th minute to all but seal the result for his side, who moved to a 26-6 lead which they held until full-time.
MORE KNIGHTS NEWS
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.