![Ponga and O'Brien in Fiji on Friday. Picture Getty Images Ponga and O'Brien in Fiji on Friday. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/a2596180-9a7b-4405-be5f-067d80b194dd.jpg/r0_0_6602_3651_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga reckons his new teammate Kai Pearce-Paul has "got it all".
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Standing 198cm, and weighing 108kg, the English recruit is hard to miss.
And with a playing style previously compared to Sonny Bill Williams, he could be a forward that takes the NRL by storm this season.
"Physically, he has got it all," Ponga said of Pearce-Paul, who makes his first appearance for the Knights in Saturday's trial against Melbourne.
"He's big, he's tall.
"He's excited to be a part of the Knights. This trial, I know he is excited for it."
Knights fans - and coach Adam O'Brien as he weighs up his round-one selections - get their first chance to see Pearce-Paul in action when Newcastle take on the Storm in Fiji at 1.45pm (AEDT).
The 23-year-old back-rower is one of eight Newcastle players, including Ponga, having their first run of the year.
After off-season toe surgery, Peace-Paul is expected to play only limited minutes off the bench at Churchill Park in Lautoka.
It will be his first appearance since last year's Super League grand final, a match he won to round out his four-season, 59-game stint with former club Wigan.
A Knight for the next two NRL campaigns, he shapes as a potential starter in the back-row to fill the void left by Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
![Pearce-Paul, centre, training in Fiji. Picture Newcastle Knights Pearce-Paul, centre, training in Fiji. Picture Newcastle Knights](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/5bcd7bd8-e31f-4871-9b88-3e5d38de39a5.jpg/r0_0_1638_2048_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I'm excited to see him playing. He's obviously pretty talented," Ponga said.
"Coming over from England, he'll probably take a little while to find his feet, I'd say, in the NRL. But in terms of what he has done for us over the pre-season, he has been pretty good. He's filling a role, like 'Fitzy', that's a big hole for us losing him."
Pearce-Paul has previously been likened to former Bulldogs and Roosters forward Williams. He has a similar style of play, but is leaner than the New Zealand great. Already an England international, debuting at the World Cup in 2022, he could be an X-factor-type addition.
O'Brien said on Friday he was still considering his options for a few positions ahead of next month's season-opener and was particularly eager to see how Pearce-Paul performed. He is vying with Dylan Lucas, who has been named to start against the Storm, for a starting spot in the back row alongside the experienced Tyson Frizell.
![Daniel Saifiti, left, and Kai Pearce-Paul, right, at training earlier this week. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Daniel Saifiti, left, and Kai Pearce-Paul, right, at training earlier this week. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/4d1da206-5c8a-4ebc-970d-980dcb031d71.jpg/r0_0_4360_2907_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"There's a lot of spots already filled, clearly, but for guys like Kai Pearce-Paul and Will Pryce and that, we still want to have another look at them to see if they're ready to go," O'Brien told reporters in Fiji. "I'd still say that there would be a few spots up for grabs for round one."
In addition to Pearce-Paul and Ponga, the other Knights returning include Frizell, Bradman Best, Greg Marzhew, Leo Thompson, Dane Gagai and Adam Elliott.
The other main positional shootout that O'Brien admits he is yet to decide on is the halves. Jackson Hastings and Tyson Gamble will start the trial, but are under pressure form 2023 NRL premiership-winner Jack Cogger.
"We're really fortunate with the depth in our spine," O'Brien said. "We've felt the other side of that over the last couple of years.
"We make no apologies for going out there and really strengthening up that area.
"It's not just this game, those guys have been auditioning all summer - so we have a bit of an idea.
"A lot of it will be around what we think we'll do with 'Brails', Jayden Brailey, whether he has done enough work to get in the round-one team or not. Not every question will be answered .... but it plays a big part in it."
After last week's 44-18 win over Cronulla, Newcastle were atop the NRL Pre-Season Challenge leaderboard prior to Friday night's trials.
With a decent victory over the Storm, they will be a good chance to take out the $100,000 tournament. Points are awarded not just for a win, but scoring five-plus tries, making five-plus line breaks and 10-plus offloads.
Following their 24-12 loss to Canterbury last week, Melbourne have brought in 14 fresh players including Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Christian Welch.
The trial is the first NRL-level match to be played in Fiji. The Knights have three players with Fijian heritage in their 27-man side, the Saifiti brothers and winger Laitia Moceidreke.
All three featured last week and Moceidreke, who stands 197cm tall, helped set up Newcastle's first try when he leapt for a kick and batted the ball back to rookie forward Kyle McCarthy.
Born in Sydney, Moceidreke played one NRL game for North Queensland in 2021. The 23-year-old joined the Knights midway through last season and played 14 NSW Cup games, scoring nine tries.
"He's done a really good job over the summer," O'Brien said of Moceidreke
'He will play 40 minutes on the wing for us. There will be a big crowd coming to watch him, he's an exciting talent."