The Newcastle Knights will field their 70th different spine combination since 2020 this weekend. 

It comes as their first choice half and fullback, Dylan Brown and Kalyn Ponga, were struck down with injury in the Knights' big win against the Manly Sea Eagles last Sunday.

The 70th spine since the turn of the decade will include Fletcher Hunt, Tyson Gamble, Sandon Smith and Phoenix Crossland this weekend against the New Zealand Warriors.

It's a stat no team would want to own, with a merry-go-round of halves, hookers and fullbacks featuring across the Knights' lineup in the past six years. 

Former head coach Adam O'Brien had come under scrutiny for the unsettled nature of his halves, which saw them face inconsistency throughout his tenure in the Hunter. 

It didn't allow for combinations to form, and lacked growth in support of the other players in the side.

The Knights have had an unlucky history of injuries to spine players such as Jayden Brailey and Ponga, who spent considerable time missing from the side, forcing O'Brien to make changes.

The team closest to toppling the Knights in this statistic are the Wests Tigers, who used 59 combinations since 2020. Cronulla Sharks have had the fewest shake-ups, with 24 spine combinations in six years.

Newcastle enters Round 3 on a hot streak, having defeated the North Queensland Cowboys in Vegas, before travelling to Brookvale to beat Manly in a courageous win.

Although it has come at a cost, with two of the Knights' key players set to miss extended time with injuries.

“As good as the Knights have been, and they've been amazing the first two weeks, the most impressive team and the big improvers of this year,” Braith Anasta said on NRL 360.

“But a lot of that has been because of Ponga and Brown. Against Manly, they were awesome without them. But it's going to be hard for eight weeks without Ponga and four weeks without Brown.”

Fletcher Sharpe was expected to recover from a PCL injury sustained in Round 1, however, he was ruled out in the lead-up to Saturday's match against the Warriors.

The Knights have also lost the past ten consecutive matches they've been without Ponga.