I always have a particular match, trend, team, or player in mind to focus on heading into each round of the NRL season. This week, I’m back on the Newcastle Knights ahead of Kalyn Ponga’s return.
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Recent:
- Another new Knights halves pairing
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More on the Knights here…
I made note of Will Pryce making his NRL debut here last week, and he’s got Kalyn Ponga joining him in the spine for this one.
As they prepare for their first game together, I’m going to keep an eye out for how Pryce and Ponga link up, and where.
“I, for one, have thought for a little while now that we might be looking at the best halves pairing Newcastle has available.” – Another new Knights halves pairing
Pryce can be potent on his own down the short side but didn’t always shape up down there when the ball was set to go long last week. He played well on the second layer outside a middle ball player, but will he act as middle service more with Ponga involved? Will Ponga change how he plays and spend more time pushing up through the middle?
It’s been the case for a while now, but the Knights halves puzzle is still being put together.
Pryce is a runner. I imagine his instruction was to back his running game and get involved early while making his NRL debut last week. It’s all that can really explain him stepping back inside on this look in the 3rd minute.
The potential of his running game popped up throughout. This play ends up looking ugly for a variety of reasons, but the in-and-away Pryce applies on Dylan Brown can cause havoc in the NRL moving forward.
He spots the third man late back into the line and Shaun Lane isn’t particularly quick from second marker. Pryce and Tyson Frizell will improve on their timing the more they play together, but boy, if Pryce gets that right with Frizell bouncing outside the centre, the Knights will find some joy down the shortside.
Again it’s a shortside, but I really like this look: Pryce playing short to a lead and backing up down the shortside.
When you’ve got Ponga and Hastings on the long side pulling shape, the shortside grows in appeal. The fullback needs to set it early. If anybody is late out of the tackle or the middle doesn’t travel, Pryce has the speed and footwork to beat the A defender inside and the ball skills to skip and make the pass outside.
The Knights play a lot of shortsides already. In Pryce on the right and Ponga down the left, they can make plays on both sides of the field while Hastings and Adam Elliott steer the ship.
It’s easy to see where Ponga could pop up alongside Pryce.
With Elliott tying up the defence through the middle before shifting the ball, Pryce and Ponga will have room to move. So long as the outside backs stay wide and pull the centre and winger, both Knights ball players will have options as a runner or passer.
The Knights have two excellent attacking options in the spine alongside Hastings, who is more than capable of tying up the right players in defence. It’s a well-balanced spine, and if they can balance the field by constantly shaping up on both sides of the ruck, they’re going to be difficult to defend.
We can’t expect it all to happen immediately. Still, I expect to see a few hints of what the future might look like throughout the 80 minutes on Sunday.