KALYN Ponga summed it up best: "You can't start games like that, let alone finals."
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The Knights, after making decent starts in majority of their past 10 consecutive wins, had a shocker in Auckland on Saturday and the Warriors made them pay.
The home side scored three tries in the opening 12 minutes, each of which came on the back of a Knights error or infringement.
In an elimination semi-final, and in front of a full house at Mt Smart Stadium where Newcastle had won only two of their past 14 games, it was always going to be a long way back from 16-0 down so early on.
Missing Daniel Saifiti, Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Jackson Hastings, the Knights did well to halt the home side's momentum and reduce the deficit to just six points, after scoring tries either side of half-time, but they were then blown away as the Warriors ran in four answered tries to claim a 40-10 victory.
"I think the way they started brought the crowd into it," Ponga said.
"We didn't deserve much at the start, we gave them everything they put on us.
"You can't start games like that, let alone finals.
"Last week we got away with it, but this week, on the back of their crowd, they were just too good."
Battered and depleted after their epic extra-time win over Canberra a week prior, the Knights struggled to match the Warriors, who were enjoying unprecedented support in New Zealand and playing before a sold-out crowd of 26,083 fans.
Returning from the calf injury which kept him out of his side's two prior games, Dally M Medal favourite Shaun Johnson was on fire for the Warriors, setting up the opening two tries.
Greg Marzhew hit back for the Knights in the 24th minute, making up for a knock-on in the opening set of six, before rookie back-rower Dylan Lucas crossed after being put through a gap by halfback Adam Clune two minutes into the second half.
Ponga said the Warriors "won the field possession battle" in the second 40 minutes, crediting Johnson's kicking as the primary factor.
"We were starting our sets inside our 10," he said.
As disappointed as Ponga was, asked about Newcastle's season at-large, the co-captain said in time the players would be pleased with their much-improved campaign.
![Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/d806079b-2f35-4c8e-9609-54a2efdd8e1b.jpg/r0_0_4085_2723_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I think we will sit back, not anytime soon - maybe in a week or two - and look back and be proud," he said.
"A lot of players have developed so much this year, grown into the players that they are.
"I think the team, there is a core group now ... that we're all on the same page, we all want the same thing and we'll carry that into next year.
"I think we'll be happy with what we did this year, but ultimately the goal is - we wanted three more [wins]."
Newcastle finished 14th in 2022, a position they languished in midway through this season despite making key improvements in the first half of their campaign.
But starting with a club-record 66-0 victory over Canterbury in round 18, they won nine-straight games to chart an unlikely rise to fifth by the end of the regular season, securing a home final for the first time since 2006.
![Dom Young and Ponga, Picture by Jonathan Carroll Dom Young and Ponga, Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/1b18955f-9244-47a9-ae6e-212f50e160b2.jpg/r0_415_5184_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ponga, who missed five games after a head-knock in round two, vowed to use to the hurt of Saturday's loss as motivation for next season.
"I just want to keep riding the wave we're on," he said.
"We did that through hard work, and nothing is going to change. Losing that way might sit bitter for a lot of people, and it should.
"We should carry that throughout the off-season into the pre-season. It should drive us into next year. We fell short of a goal."
![Ponga after the Canberra victory. Picture by Peter Lorimer Ponga after the Canberra victory. Picture by Peter Lorimer](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/0b6ffcc4-c7ec-43b0-93be-8a298d1e6de7.JPG/r0_559_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
With their campaign now over, multiple Newcastle players will be nursing and recovering from injuries, including Ponga who battled on with a high-grade AC joint issue for the past two games.
Hastings is set to have surgery on a fractured ankle this week, but Ponga would prefer to avoid an operation.
"You can and you can't, I'm planning not to," he said.
Ponga's injury may yet determine whether he plays for the Kangaroos in the upcoming Pacific Championships. Australia host Samoa in Townsville on October 14 and New Zealand in Melbourne on October 28, before a likely final in early November.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga is poised to hand the 25-year-old his Test debut despite the other fullbacks in contention, including skipper James Tedesco and Broncos ace Reece Walsh.
"Sometimes you pick your best players and find a position for them," Meninga told the The Sun-Herald. "Kalyn can play No.14, he can play in the halves and I believe he can play in the centres.
"I've done it before in rep footy where you bring a Daly Cherry-Evans, Cooper Cronk or Michael Morgan into the No.14 jersey - you know they're going to be a part of your future, and it's the perfect way to introduce them to it all. We've only got 20-man squads, so we definitely have to look at versatility."
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