Newcastle coach Nathan Brown admits star Kalyn Ponga could be switched to five-eighth this weekend in an attempt to manage a growing list of niggling injuries.
Brown revealed Ponga has been limited to one full training session over the past seven weeks as he nurses through a combination of hamstring and ankle issues.
“We’re looking at trying to limit his running, that being the truth of it,” Brown said.
“KP hasn’t run very much so his fitness levels are dipping a little bit. His attacking influence on the team might improve if he plays at six in the short-term.”
Ponga’s possible move would mean rookie Nick Meaney is drafted into the team at fullback, squeezing playmaker Jack Cogger out of the side.
Meaney and Cogger are both moving to Canterbury at the end of the season.
It has been widely speculated that Ponga’s long-term future could be in the halves, however Brown insisted the shift was primarily because of his fitness levels.
He conceded the 20-year-old has suffered a slight drop in form in recent weeks.
“Whilst he’s a very good player, his fitness level is going to improve lot more the way more he matures, trains and plays,” Brown said.
“It’s more based about (how) he hasn’t done a lot of running and fullback requires more kilometres than anywhere.
“If we could look at him at six, it cuts his kilometres back. At the end of the day he plays like it anyway. It’s not going to be a huge change in a lot of ways.”
A move into the frontline would likely mean Ponga would be tested in defence by Penrith on Saturday, however Brown said the Queensland representative has already proven his ability.
He made an impressive 28 tackles from 32 attempts on Origin debut in game two.
“He handled it well, and we’ve all seen him put his body on the line at fullback,” Brown said.
“He might get a little bit of extra workload if we do decide to play him there. But he’ll run a lot less and him and Mitchell (Pearce) can still work together.”