The Knights could be without Jackson Hastings for their do-or-die final against the Warriors after their go-to halfback failed to take part in the second half of Sunday’s clash with the Raiders.
In Newcastle on Sunday, Hastings returned from a three-match stint on the sideline due to a syndesmosis injury, but the rugby league journeyman was ruled out of the game at half-time after reaggravating his ankle issue.
The Knights won their first finals match since 2013 in front of an electric sell-out crowd, defeating the Raiders 30-28 in an extra-time heartstopper, but Hastings might not be fit to play as Newcastle shoots for a preliminary final berth in Auckland on Saturday.
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“Obviously it doesn’t look great,” said Knights coach Adam O’Brien in his post-match press conference.
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to the doctors yet.
“We tested him at half-time and he wasn’t going to be able to contribute in the second half. That in itself is not a great sign.
“But anyway, we’ll reassess tomorrow, pick ourselves up.”
Kurt Mann was shifted from the bench to the halves for the second half with the utility partnering Tyson Gamble.
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The Knights trailed 16-6 at the break, but Kalyn Ponga, Gamble and Mann combined superbly as the hosts erased the deficit and surged to a 28-16 lead by the 64th minute.
They ran in four tries on the bounce, scoring through Ponga, Dominic Young twice and Dane Gagai.
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“I want to heap praise on this guy,” O’Brien said in his post-game press conference, gesturing to Ponga seated beside him.
“When you lose Jackson and then Kalyn’s all of a sudden got to reconfigure, he’s got to coach Kurt on the run how to play five-eighth the way we want him to.
“But then he’s got to have the presence of mind to go, ‘Well we’ve been heavily left-sided, I need to flip around to the right’. He did that, popped up on the right, we get two tries down there. That’s pretty remarkable for him to do.
“It was literally a couple of minutes to go (before the start of the second half) when we ruled Jackson out.
“To have the nous to go, ‘Right, I need to start attacking down the right’ — that’s a credit to him. Outstanding.”
Adam Clune replaced Hastings at halfback for Newcastle’s last three games of the regular season.
If Hastings is ruled unavailable for the Warriors clash, either Clune will return to partner Gamble in the halves or Gamble and Mann will pair up.