Newcastle star Kalyn Ponga is confident he can handle being the No.1 target for rival teams should he make the switch from fullback to five-eighth next season.

Ponga is yet to rejoin his teammates for pre-season as he continues to recover from major ankle surgery, but is expected to train in the halves when he returns.

Playmaker Connor Watson is pencilled in to revert to fullback, despite signing with the Knights last year intent on establishing himself in the No.6 jumper.

However, Watson now insists he simply just wants to start games, which he was unable to do with the Sydney Roosters two years ago.

“I’ve come up here and I didn’t get to play too much footy last year, but I just want to win football games and everyone’s here with that same mindset,” Watson said.

“If I’m playing one and we’re winning football games, I’m happy.”

Watson is also on the comeback trail after going under the knife to repair a major groin issue that troubled him for a large chunk of the season.

The surgery later revealed a tendon had to be reattached to connect his groin to his abdominal muscles, a process which delayed his comeback for another three weeks.

“The plan is I’ll try at one and he’ll go at six, just see how it works out. We’ll do a bit of both, but we both can play in those positions,” Watson said.

“For me, it’s not really that big of a deal. If I play one, I’m happy to play there. I think it allows me to play more of my natural game anyway.”

The move is expected to allow Ponga more use of the ball, although it is also likely to ensure he gets plenty of attention in defence.

Encouragingly the 20-year-old showed his defensive strength in his State of Origin debut this year, when he was lauded for making 28 of his 32 tackles as a utility.

He was then used at five-eighth in his final appearance of the season in Newcastle’s round 23 win over Penrith, where he made 16 of 18 tackles.

“It’ll be different, but I look forward to it,” Ponga said.

“I played half against the Panthers and when I played next to (Lachlan Fitzgibbon), I felt like we had that little bit of combination and it felt good.

“We were all on the same page. That’s the sort of stuff you build in pre-season, but I’d be pretty confident.”