Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien believes Kalyn Ponga won't be at risk playing on a slippery field against Cronulla tonight and his star fullback could prove the difference in the expected wet and wild conditions.
O'Brien confirmed Ponga as a certain starter yesterday despite taking a cautious approach last week and withdrawing him a day before the 38-20 loss to Penrith.
The Knights' skipper also missed the week prior against the Tigers after picking up a knee injury against the Roosters in round one.
"He was really close [last week], just not close enough for my liking," O'Brien said.
"He is good to go. He has trained really well this week."
With rain forecast to be falling over PointsBet Stadium tonight, the Knights have prepared for a wet game and even went as far as using soap-covered footballs at training this week.
O'Brien said the conditions would be a significant factor and he felt Ponga's elusive style could help the Knights as they chase their third win of the season.
"It suits him," O'Brien said.
"He is hard to handle. We want to make sure we're getting him some ball out there.
"The elements will play a big part in the game, the team that handles them.
"I think they're talking about 100 km/h winds. We've prepared for that all week.
"The beauty of it is we've known for a while [and] come up with a style that we think will suit us and the elements."
O'Brien said the Knights would need to shut down the running games of Cronulla's playmakers, but also cushion the impact of their forwards.
The Sharks have been one of the best attacking sides in the first three rounds, scoring an average 24 points per game and recording 21 line breaks, the most of any club in the competition. They're also leading in the number of line-break assists with 15.
"I see a lot of their head coach coming out in the way they play," said O'Brien, who was an assistant with Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon at the Roosters for a year before he joined the Knights.
"Fitz has got them really connected defensively, they move well, but also with the ball - very dangerous.
"They've got a spine that like to run the ball and I expect them to ... given the conditions. We need to make sure we're applying enough pressure to those spine players, but they've also got really good go-forward in their forward pack so their halves are always on the front foot."
The Sharks, who won in the wet against the Dragons last week, will be out to celebrate Aiden Tolman's 300th game. The Knights have similar motivation with Tyson Frizell playing his 200th.
"There is an honour in being part of someone's milestone. It's a game they will remember for a long time, so it's really important that you put in a performance that they can be proud of," O'Brien said.
"It's 200 tough games of football from Tyson and he does that week in, week out.
"If we couldn't have it here at home, it's fitting it's back at where he started his career."
The match kicks off at 6pm.
