Ponga out of Origin decider after scans confirm worst fears

Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga has been ruled out of the State of Origin decider amid fears he could miss the rest of the NRL season for the Knights after suffering a Lisfranc injury.

Ponga hobbled off midway through the second half of Newcastle's 22-18 loss to Canberra on Friday night after being tackled by Raiders secondrower Morgan Smithies.

The Knights captain and Queensland fullback had his left foot in a protective moonboot after the game and was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury after undergoing scans on Saturday morning.

Ponga will begin his rehabilitation with Knights medical staff, with the view of returning to play in the back end of the season.

However, he is out of the July 9 Origin decider at Accor Stadium, leaving Queensland coach Billy Slater with the task of selecting a new No.1.

Slater’s options include recalling Brisbane’s Reece Walsh or switching Dolphins custodian Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow from wing to fullback.

Ponga missed eight games and was sidelined for 10 weeks last year after suffering a Lisfranc fracture to his right foot in an 18-6 loss to Canterbury on April 21.

He has now suffered the same injury to his left foot.

The Knights have eight matches remaining in the final 10 weeks of the regular season so a similar diagnosis would end his 2025 NRL campaign, but O’Brien indicated it was too soon to speculate about the extent of Ponga’s recovery.

“It’s not the one he did [last year]," O'Brien said.

Ponga was slow to his feet after the Smithies tackle, then two plays later, team-mate Jackson Hastings knocked on and Canberra pivot Ethan Strange recovered the ball to send winger Jed Stuart away for a try to give the Raiders a 22-6 lead.

After struggling to give chase alongside other Newcastle defenders, Ponga received medical attention in the in-goal area as Jamal Fogarty converted Stuart’s try.

Ponga used his hands to push down on the top of his left foot, tried unsuccessfully to weight-bear, then limped from the field before Newcastle kicked off.

“He’s tough. He doesn’t come off for just about anything,” O’Brien said. "You've got to drag him off the field with a tow truck normally."

Walsh, who is two games back from a knee injury, and Tabuai-Fidow can stake their claims in separate games at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

The Broncos, who have beaten the Titans and Sharks since Walsh returned, tackle the Warriors before a sellout crowd at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday before Tabuai-Fidow's Dolphins host South Sydney at the same venue.

From a Knights perspective, Ponga’s obvious replacement would normally have been Fletcher Sharpe, but the livewire utility is recovering from a lacerated kidney and ruptured spleen suffered in Newcastle’s 26-20 victory over the Dolphins in Perth last Saturday.

O’Brien said Sharpe had been discharged from hospital in Perth and was back home in Newcastle but there was no time frame on his return to playing.

Dane Gagai moved from centre to fullback after Ponga left the game against Canberra, but Fletcher Hunt would be another option for Newcastle’s next contest against Melbourne at McDonald Jones Stadium on July 12.

Forward Tyson Frizell indicated the Knights had to refocus after Ponga’s departure, which they had become accustomed to this season, and they rallied with two late tries to give themselves a chance of stealing the game.

“It’s hard because you don’t know what’s really going on,” Frizell said.

“There’s certain injuries where you can battle on but injuries like that, hamstrings, things that kind of debilitate you and you can’t move from, it’s hard to get a read on how bad it is.

“Fingers crossed for Kalyn and personally, hopefully he’s OK. Things have happened to us throughout the whole year so it’s not something that we’re not used to.

"The team got rearranged a fair bit there when he came off and we just went straight into it. We knew that we had to attack the game and find a way to win. We fought right to the end and fell short, but plenty of fight there still.”

The Knights have their second bye next weekend so O’Brien said players would take a few days off and he would consider all selection options after Ponga’s scan results are known.

“We’ve got a bye so we’ve got some time to sit down and work out the extent of firstly Kalyn’s injury,” O’Brien said.

“Like ‘Friz’ said, we’ve been down this road for years now, so we’ll have to figure it out.

“He [Sharpe] is home, and he’s obviously not doing much. He’s in bed and he’ll be in that situation for a while now.

“He’s still in a fair degree of pain, and for him, he doesn’t let on with that sort of stuff very often. As everyone knows, it’s a significant injury this one.”