Nathan Brown wants Kalyn Ponga to unlock fellow young star Jesse Ramien at Newcastle this year, with the Knights desperate to fire in attack on both sides of the ruck.
Ponga’s switch to five-eighth took another step forward over the weekend, as he had a hand in two Newcastle tries in their 18-10 loss to St George Illawarra in Wollongong.
Both Ponga-inspired tries came down the left, as his combination with second-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon again shone through in the lead up to both scores.
But while Ponga, Fitzgibbon and eventually Tautau Moga will likely fill that left edge, the Knights have one of the most dangerous right sides in the league with Mitchell Pearce and boom young recruit Ramien.
And Brown is desperate to see the right side get more ball after a majority of traffic went down the left in the first half of the Knights’ opening trial before the majority for the first-grade players left the game.
“That’s certainly something we’re going to need to do and Kalyn’s going to have move around the field a lot more,” Brown said.
“KP is one of our better players and your better players need to get the ball in their hands when you create momentum.
“Hopefully as time goes on they know with KP going over the other side of the field and the combination with Junior (Pearce) and (fullback) Connor (Watson), hopefully that sort of possession rate evens out a little bit.
“And hopefully we can get the ball in Jesse’s hands earlier on and at the line because he can beat people himself and create opportunity. These things will take time.”
Pearce and Ponga regularly combined in Saturday’s trial, with the pair both touching the ball in the lead up to Edrick Lee’s try.
Most of those direct links came when Pearce travelled across field and to the left, but Brown said both players would be encouraged to play on both sides of the ruck.
“We’ll definitely have them moving around the field, we’re not going to be locking them in,” Brown said.
“We’re confident regardless of the position KP is playing him and Junior will play good footy together.”
