The 23-year-old didn't allow the occasion to get the better of him either, having a hand in two tries while racking up 182 run metres.<\/p>\n
But as it currently stands, Newcastle is led by a four-man leadership group consisting of Ponga, Jayden Brailey, Mitch Barnett and Daniel Saifiti, with the quartet replacing halfback Mitchell Pearce<\/a> who captained the side last season.<\/p>\n And according to Johns, a leadership group is the last thing any club needs.<\/p>\n "Whatever that (leadership groups) means… there's one captain," Johns told Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n "Just let the captain or coach decide."<\/p>\n The Newcastle great said now is the time for Ponga to be the face of Newcastle by being the one leader out on the field.<\/p>\n "I spoke to someone within the organisation who I'm really friendly with and I said, 'mate Kalyn is your captain, he's your best player'," Johns said.<\/p>\n "Everyone talks about the Newcastle Knights – they talk about Kalyn. From a marketing point of view, they market Kalyn as the face of the club. He's the best player.<\/p>\n "I understand he's finding his voice, but he doesn't need to say too much, he just leads by his actions.<\/p>\n "Hopefully, he's the captain for the next eight to 10 years. Moving forward, he is the captain for me. He's the figurehead of the club.<\/p>\n "Anyone who talks about Newcastle now, they talk about Kalyn. All the kids want to be like him, so it's his time. He's got to lead the club and the town loves him."<\/p>\n Johns also said he expects the Knights, who now sit in seventh spot on the ladder, to finish in the top eight.<\/p>\n "I think they will make the eight this year," Johns said.<\/p>\n "I think Bradman Best coming back on that left side, he gives that strike out there.<\/p>\n "Kalyn doing what he does… their forwards have been dynamite all year. I think they've been really strong."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"NRL](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/08\/373422\/pickerimage.jpg\")
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