Kalyn Ponga hogged the headlines after leading Newcastle to a 38-0 shut-out of North Queensland in his comeback match at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night, and rightly so.
But it was the performance of another former Cowboy against his old club that left long-suffering Knights fans feeling excited about their team’s prospects in the final nine rounds of the season.
Five-eighth Jake Clifford showed touches of class with the ball, and desperation in defence, to suggest coach Adam O’Brien’s 18-month search for a fixture at No.6 might finally be over.
It was only Clifford’s fourth game for the Knights since leaving the Cowboys last month, and his first for Newcastle alongside his great mate Ponga, but O’Brien is convinced those two players plus half Mitchell Pearce and hooker Jayden Brailey will form a spine around which to build a successful team.