Newcastle Knights coach Adam O'Brien has maintained his captain Kalyn Ponga was "more than ready" to return for the club after conflicting reports around his fitness.
Ponga returned from a Lisfranc injury against the Raiders and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball.
The fullback hadn't played since round seven when he left the field early against the Bulldogs and a report emerged prior to round 18 that he'd be ruled out again.
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That was met with dispute from different media outlets and the truth was there to be seen when Ponga's name was on the team list before kick off.
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O'Brien put the speculation down to "bad media" before justifying Ponga's fitness.
"It wasn't the case," he said after his side's win over the Raiders.
"I think he did 42 kilometres in two weeks of skill work and running, that's a lot, so he was more than ready.
"Look, people make mistakes, I don't know why it popped up, it gathered a little bit of momentum but to his credit he just blocked out the noise, turned up and played well."
Ponga admitted to being "pretty nervous" prior to his return but his performance is likely to have him picked on the bench for Origin III as the Maroons look to welcome him back to the arena.
"I was happy, our second half is definitely something to look at. But we've played better and lost those sort of games," he said.
"At the end of the day it was effort and hard work, that's what Friz (Tyson Frizell) has displayed for us for so long and that's what we wanted to put in for him for 250 and I'm just glad we got the win for him."
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O'Brien went on to endorse his fullback for the Maroons with the side's backline stocks currently depleted due to injury.
"He never lets his state down. He played a pretty important role in a win for them there not long ago so I'll be super supportive, super proud of him," he said.
"I know how much it hurt him not to be there. He does more than enough for us as a club and us as a team, he deserves to be there. I'll be wrapped for him."
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