Fears grow over Kalyn Ponga’s NRL career after Knights gun is knocked unconscious by brutal hit

Kalyn Ponga’s immediate playing future is under a cloud after the Newcastle superstar was knocked out just 90 seconds into his team’s 14-12 win over the Wests Tigers on Sunday.

The Knights star looked to tackle Tigers forward Asu Kepaoa front on, but appeared to be out of cold as soon as his head clashed with that of the Tigers forward.

Ponga groggily got back to his feet before being attended to by the team doctor, who eventually escorted him off the field for a head injury assessment (HIA).

The Queenslander did not return to the game and has now being ruled out because of concussion four times in the past 10 months alone. Last season, the 24-year-old underwent five separate HIAs and failed to return to the field on three occasions.

‘Kalyn Ponga hits the deck and it’s just about lights out. My goodness,’ Andrew Voss said on commentary on Fox League.

The Newcastle skipper was escorted off the field for an HIA, which he failed and did not return

‘That surely will be the last we’ll see of him today.’

Speaking on Nine, Andrew Johns noted Ponga’s switch from fullback to five-eight put him in the firing line defensively. 

‘It was always a gamble putting Kalyn in the front line defensively,’ he said.

‘That was always the worry.’ 

A lengthy spell on the sideline for Ponga could be derail the Knights’ season, but Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien sought to dispel concerns over the Maroons star’s health.  

‘I’ve seen him make that tackle 1000 times over the summer, so I’m not too concerned around that,’ he said.

“It’s too early to say but we’ll just follow the protocols.

“We gave him the summer off, he had eight games off last season, he has some extended breaks.

‘He obviously won’t play [against the Dolphins in Round 3] because we’ve got a five-day turnaround.

‘He was cleared to play in the last two games last year and we chose to not play him.’

Ponga suffered three concussions last season as his campaign was cut short 

Ponga was controversially removed from the field late in Newcastle’s loss to the Warriors in Round 1 after sliding into the hip of Addin Fonua-Blake.

The Knights skipper claimed afterward that he was fine and did not know why the independent doctor had intervened.

The incident was deemed by the doctor to be a category two, requiring Ponga to leave the field for 15 minutes to be checked.

Last year, Ponga’s season ended prematurely after he suffered three concussions in a six week period.