He's fought for every jersey of his football career and it was no different for the Newcastle No. 6 but Tyson Gamble is the secret weapon spearheading the Knights to a 2023 finals campaign.
When Gamble joined Newcastle on a two-year-deal at the beginning of the season, Kalyn Ponga’s switch to five-eighth was dominating headlines and the 27-year-old flew under the radar.
Shifting between five-eighth and the bench in the first half of the season, Gamble helped coach Adam O'Brien plug holes after hooker Jayden Brailey suffered a season-ending knee injury and Ponga headed to Canada to seek specialist advice on his concussion issues.
Come Round 13, the call was made to shift Ponga back to fullback and Gamble found a permanent home in the No.6 jersey, and the Knights have been all but unstoppable since, riding an eight-game winning streak and heading into the finals full of confidence.
Young equals Knights record
“I think a lot of people saw me as that (second grade player) but I’ve had to fight for a jersey every team I’ve been at,” Gamble said following the Knights’ 32-6 victory over the Sharks.
“I knew I was in for a fight and it was a bit tough when Kalyn said he wanted to be a six because I don’t know if I was ever going to beat him so when that happened I was actually training at fullback.
"I spent some time a fullback, I also played a little bit in the middle when Kalyn was at six so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me.
“But I fight for a jersey no matter where I’m at so I’m glad I’ve got the six at the moment because I feel like I’m a better six than a fullback or in the middle.”
Tyson Gamble has a day out
It’s been a dramatic rise for the former Bronco, who was in and out of reserve grade last season, biding his time behind first-choice halves Ezra Mam and Adam Reynolds.
But something has clicked for Gamble at Newcastle this year and the flying five-eighth said he hopes to see out his career in the Steel City.
“Personally, it’s a bit of a pinch-me moment. I didn’t think I’d get anywhere close to the finals let alone playing consistent NRL,” he said.
“It does feel good and I’m glad I made the move to the Knights. The opportunity for me at Brisbane last year was sort of there and then it wasn’t so the move for me has been awesome.
“I love it here at the Knights, I love the team, I love the lifestyle and hopefully I can finish my career here."
Gamble had a game
After being forced from the field late in Sunday’s win with an AC joint issue the Knights confirmed on Monday Ponga will miss this weekend’s match against St George Illawarra and is also in doubt for their opening finals match.
Ponga has been the Knights X-factor in attack, running in 13 try assists and four tries in the Knights past eight consecutive wins.
Ponga purrs as the Knights seal finals spot
While Gamble understands the significance of losing their marquee fullback, he also knows adaptability in the spine has become the Knights specialty this season.
"You can get a bit caught up with an injury when it’s a key player like that and just sort of just think ‘oh on’," he said.
"But it’s not the attitude we have as a team, we’ve looked at the injury Jacko (Hastings) had, Cluney (Adam Clune) came in and he really took charge of the team.
"Obviously with Kalyn leaving it’s going to be massive shoes to fill but it’s Origin player to Origin player.
"Gags (Dane Gagai) is an awesome option for us to drop back there so it won’t change our attack at all, he’s just got to fill some shoes and play his type of footy.
"And in the centres, I guess Dylan (Lucas) will just slot in as he did in the forwards. We’ve got a lot of depth in our outside backs this year and if Kalyn needs a week off, Kalyn will get a week off."
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