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Newcastle star Kalyn Ponga says he's more determined than ever to win the NRL title this year before his best mate Connor Watson goes to the Roosters.
Newcastle superstar Kalyn Ponga says his best mate Connor Watson signing with the Sydney Roosters has accelerated their dream of winning an NRL title together.
Ahead of their Saturday clash with Canterbury, Ponga admitted he had been rocked by Watson's decision to leave the Knights.
The superstar fullback said he wouldn't be following Watson down the F3 and remained committed to Newcastle despite a clause in his contract that allows him to leave at the end of next season.
"That's definitely not happening - the dream of winning the comp here, I've still got that dream," Ponga said on Friday.
"It was an emotional day or two as you can imagine but the smoke has cleared and we're focusing on tomorrow.
"At the end of the day it's his decision - I was a bit emotional, having my best mate leave, but I'm happy for him.
"The dream and journey I'm on stays the same."
The Newcastle roommates were intent on winning a title together and Ponga insisted that quest was still alive, with the Knights in seventh.
"We've got three games left in the season and then hopefully we go deep into the finals," Ponga said.
"Now that we know we've only got limited time together we want to make the most of it."
With the worst points differential of the teams jostling for a finals berth, the Knights can't afford to slip up at CBus Super Stadium against the last-placed Bulldogs.
Ponga said they had spoken about any kind of complacency creeping in and also about being patient without trying to chase points.
"I think it comes back to our mentality heading into games," the 23-year-old said.
"When you go searching for points that can sometimes work against you, so we've just got to get in the game and be patient and do all the little things right and points will come.
"It's not a matter of going out there and let's try and score heaps of points.
"It's definitely a game we want to be patient and resilient.
"We won't go out and expect anything easy."
