In the sheds: Kalyn Ponga

In his first game as an nib Newcastle Knight, young fullback Kalyn Ponga made an impressive start with one early try and two try savers.

Knights TV spoke to the 19-year-old in the sheds after the match, who said he was elated with the win and his performance.

“I’m pretty happy with my first game,” smiled Ponga.

“We came together as a group and stuck to the basics, because early in the season you get wins just by doing that, so pretty happy with the result.”

With an absolute nail biter of a finish in golden point time before Mitchell Pearce slotted the field goal, Ponga admits just like the fans, his heart was in his mouth.

“Their support was unreal… their Newcastle chant, I don’t think I’ll get over that and I think it will be ringing in my ears all night,” laughed Ponga.

“When Pearce nearly hit that first one, then we grinded away and to get that second one was unreal.”

The fullback maintains it was awesome to get his first win as a Knight.

“To win that is just overwhelming,” he said.

“I’ve never been in that situation, but we had Pearce who is an experienced player and I’m glad he was on our side tonight.”