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Newcastle Knights rest Kalyn Ponga ahead of Dragons match
The Newcastle Knights will rest Queensland Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga for Friday's NRL match against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Fletcher Sharpe will start at fullback while Bradman Best returns from injury.
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Fletcher Sharpe moves from five-eighth to fullback, while Sandon Smith shifts from the bench to start at five-eighth. NSW Origin player Dylan Lucas is also rested, with Francis Manuleleua moving into the starting second-row. Bradman Best returns to the side after missing the past six weeks with injury. James Schiller joins the six-man bench.
Dragons seek second win St George Illawarra five-eighth Daniel Atkinson said the Dragons will try to replicate their strong first-half performance from their round-14 loss to Cronulla. "We had a really strong 40 minutes against the Sharks at Shark Park, but we didn't come out of the sheds in the second half," Atkinson told Fox League.
The Dragons enter the match with one win this season after a 30-26 victory over Brisbane in round 13.
Knights downplay previous result Newcastle halfback Dylan Brown said the Dragons are a different side from the team the Knights defeated 44-10 six weeks ago. "It's been a month since then, they've grabbed a win since then, so their confidence is high," Brown told Fox League. The Knights can move provisionally into the NRL top four with a win.
