NRL 2026 Four Point Focus: Ponga Guiding The Knights Attack

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The Four Point Focus breaks down a try from every round of the 2025 NRL season, highlighting the context, shape, trigger and the lessons learned. It’s viewed with an eye on 2026 as we look for trends, breakout players and hints of what might be to come next season.

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Point 1 - The Context

If you watched the Newcastle Knights beat the Dolphins in Round 2 of the 2025 NRL season, you wouldn’t think they could finish the year as the worst attacking team in the competition.

Having your best attacking player only feature 13 times all season will do that to a team. However, we saw enough in the games Kalyn Ponga did play to suggest that the Knights will make significant improvements with the ball in 2026.

Point 2 - The Shape

Kalyn Ponga is one of the most dangerous attacking weapons in the NRL. He’s a triple threat whenever he touches the ball and doesn’t always need to touch it to have an impact.

He played a role in four tries in Round 2. He crabbed across the field in the lead-up to the first, bouncing away from the line before engaging Kodi Nikorima and finding Jack Cogger one pass wider. The 27-year-old made the right pass out the back of a block for the Knights to score the second.

It’s in the third when we see Ponga at his best, and the simple block shape with two outside him on the edge where he’s most dangerous.