Newcastle Knights superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga has passed his head injury assessment and will be able to play next week's preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers.
Ponga was taken from the field with concussion symptoms just under seven minutes from fulltime in the thrilling game against the New Zealand Warriors, and it was confirmed shortly after fulltime on Fox Sports that he had passed his HIA.
"I did pass it. I feel good. Definitely [I can play next week]," Ponga said on the broadcast.
"I'm just proud. I feel like crying. Everyone counted us out five or six weeks ago, but we are just representing our team with so much pride. It's an awesome feeling.
"It means a lot. We speak about it a lot. We have bought in to what the town is about. I just can't wait to get back to Newcastle and get on to next week, but I'm just so proud of these boys."
Ponga, who is the Knights most important player in attack and racked up 208 metres from 23 carries against the Warriors to go with a line break and a staggering 16 tackle busts, will have seven days to recover alongside his teammates before Newcastle clash with the Panthers for a spot in the grand final.
Newcastle could ill-afford yet another injury, having overcome the odds to beat the Warriors without Jacob Saifiti and Dylan Brown, while Dylan Lucas made his return from a gruesome ankle injury off the bench.
Had Ponga failed his head injur assessment, he would have been unable to play for the next 11 days at a minimum.
Newcastle will play their preliminary final next Sunday.
I suspect at this time of the season, no-one was going to fail Ponga as long as he could actually stand up :=)