{"id":331039,"date":"2023-09-14T20:17:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T20:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331039"},"modified":"2023-09-14T22:03:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T22:03:12","slug":"legends-fear-for-fading-knights-amid-10-game-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331039","title":{"rendered":"Legend's fear for 'fading' Knights amid 10-game streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite winning their last 10 games on the trot, Darren Lockyer<\/a> believes the Knights<\/a>' almighty run is set to end in their semi-final against the Warriors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Led by Kalyn Ponga<\/a>'s sensational return to form, the Knights caught fire after their round 17 loss to the Panthers<\/a> to win nine in a row, finishing the home and away season in fifth position while also topping the end-of-season try scoring tally<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They extended the streak to 10 in their nail-biting extra time win over the Raiders<\/a> last week to set up the showdown with the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Injury curse hits semi-final as Storm star ruled out\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> 'Wake-up call' that brought troubled great back to AFL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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But despite heading over the ditch with all the momentum, the Maroons<\/a> legend warned there were signs the Knights were starting to tire.<\/p>\n

\"Kalyn<\/p>\n

"Canberra were very good on the weekend, but I think the Knights are starting to fade," Lockyer told Wide World of Sports' QLDER<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A fatigued squad and a Ponga that's not quite at full fitness with a sore shoulder, combined with the return of Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson<\/a>, a fanatical Auckland crowd, and their hunger to bounce back and avoid a straight-sets exit means the Warriors start favourites.<\/p>\n

Lockyer said their performance against the Panthers was promising despite the scoreboard, but lacked the polish Johnson brings to the side.<\/p>\n

Stream every game of the 2023 NRL finals series live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Knights<\/p>\n

"But there were some good signs in there," he said.<\/p>\n

Ponga suffered a high-grade AC joint injury in a crunching hit from Jesse Ramien in the Knights' round 26 win over the Sharks.<\/p>\n

He didn't play in their round 27 win over the Dragons, and only took to the field against Canberra with painkillers.<\/p>\n

Lockyer said the effects of the shoulder injury were obvious in his lack of long passes.<\/p>\n

Fellow Maroons legend Wally Lewis injured his shoulder three times in his illustrious career, including both ACs.<\/p>\n

\"Ponga<\/p>\n

He said regardless of the injections the Knights give him, the injury will be in the back of Ponga's mind for the rest of the season and would be a target for opponents.<\/p>\n

"They'll certainly work to it and they'll make life as difficult as possible," he said.<\/p>\n

"Even down to instructions from the opposition coach: 'well, if you're gonna run at him, make sure you run at that shoulder, not the other and cause as much distress as you possibly can'.<\/p>\n

"There will be no sympathy offered by the opposition here and they'll try and make sure he experiences as much pain as (he) can possibly endure."<\/p>\n

The Warriors take on the Knights at 4pm (AEST) Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite winning their last 10 games on the trot, Darren Lockyer believes the Knights' almighty run is set to end in their semi-final against the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331039"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331043,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331039\/revisions\/331043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/306543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}