Newcastle Knights star Kalyn Ponga made his awaited return to the NRL field on Saturday night following a stint on the sidelines due to a concussion.
The five-eighth hadn't played since Round 2, notably visiting Canada during his rehabilitation stint to better understand his condition.
Ponga did not start the match against the North Queensland Cowboys - which the Knights lost 18-16 - but enjoyed a generally positive performance off the bench.
How did Kalyn Ponga play against the Cowboys last night?
Introduced in the 26th minute, it understandably took some time for Ponga to settle into the match.
His influence was minimal in the first half, but he grew into the game throughout the second stanza.
Ponga's try assist for winger Dominic Young was a positive sign, making the right decision in a timely manner.
In a game full of errors, the 25-year-old was generally secure with the ball in hand.
He finished the match with 61 running metres, one try assist, four tackle breaks, and a pair of offloads.
Importantly, there were no concerning incidents regarding his head apart from an unfortunate falcon late in the match.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien was pleased with Ponga's showing.
"I thought he looked very busy, he looked dangerous," O'Brien said.
"Our connections with him will get better. There's some timing stuff there.
"But the more times he touched the ball the better he looked. So yeah, that's exciting."
Why did Kalyn Ponga start from the Knights' bench?
Ponga was initially named in the No. 6 jersey as the starting five-eighth when Newcastle released their team list on Tuesday.
However, when the final team sheets were distributed before the Saturday night game, he was shifted to the bench, with Tyson Gamble moving into his starting slot.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien explained post-match that they elected to bring the Origin representative on mid-way through the first half due to concerns about him playing a full 80 minutes.
Kalyn Ponga concussion history
Ponga has an unfortunate history of head knocks, underlined by a brutal 2022 season.
The Knights captain suffered three concussions in the space of six weeks last year, which resulted in him hanging the boots up before the conclusion of the campaign.
His latest head knock - against the Tigers in Round 2 of 2023 - saw former players and experts concerned about his long-term viability in the league.
"My concern with Kalyn – and I’ve retired two players because of repeated concussions in my career – is the ease with which it happens now," Phil Gould said.
"I don’t see those knocks as anything over the top that should be causing those sorts of problems for him, it just seems now the ease with the collisions, he seems to react badly to it.
"That’s not a good sign. I think his career is in jeopardy, to be honest – I don’t know how you sort through that."
