It’s fair to say the Knights are at a crossroads, with a new coach on the horizon and star man Kalyn Ponga’s future being solved — for now.

After being linked with a switch to the cashed-up rebel league Rugby 360, Ponga came out and squashed rumblings he would be departing after a meeting with general manager Peter Parr.

“Committed to the end of 2027. Excited about the vision of the club. Appreciate those that support me!” Ponga said on Instagram.

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Meanwhile, Adam O’Brien’s time in the Hunter will reportedly come to an end at the season’s end, with club powerbrokers planning to buy out the final two years of his contract.

There’s arguably no bigger names in Newcastle’s rugby league history than Andrew and Matty Johns, and the brothers are well and truly split when it comes to Ponga.

In his SMH column, which was written before Ponga’s contract reveal, ‘Joey’ Johns was of the belief the talismanic fullback has fulfilled his obligations to the Knights, and as such should be allowed to walk away should he want to.

He pointed to the period in which Ponga joined Newcastle, off the back of three wooden spoons, while the year before he made his Cowboys debut they won a premiership.

“Now, Ponga is 27, and he has always been ambitious, wanting to win a premiership or challenge himself at the top level in either code – league or union,” Johns wrote.

“The cold, hard fact is he won’t win a premiership at Newcastle. Several senior players – Leo Thompson, Jackson Hastings, Jayden Brailey, Adam Elliott and Jack Hetherington – are going to follow Daniel Saifiti out the door and another rebuild looms.

“From my point of view, if Kalyn requests a release from the last two years of his contract, I say goodbye, good luck and thank you for your service to the Knights.

“He is a phenomenal, freakish athlete and probably deserves to be on the world stage that rugby can offer. He’s attracted other players to Newcastle and helped deliver sponsors.

“If he truly wants to go to rugby, it’s time to let him go.”

Meanwhile, Matty Johns held a different opinion.

He explained that, while some view Ponga’s potential departure as an “opportunity” to fully rebuild the club’s roster and rid themselves of a $1.4 million player who has battled with injuries, his leaving instead could fully derail the Knights.

“I completely disagree. A Ponga exit would be devastating for the club on numerous levels,” Johns wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

“Firstly the obvious, from a performance perspective, Ponga makes the Knights a dramatically better side.

“His late-season return from injury in 2023 didn’t just save their season but saw him make an incredible surge to win the Dally M medal.

“But it’s more than just on-field contribution. It’s about the clubs marketability, sponsorship, profile and the big one, the ability to retain and recruit players.”

He also pointed to the allure of playing alongside Ponga as a key factor in Newcastle being able to land their biggest fish since the fullback joined in Dylan Brown.

“Recruitment is already a problem for the Knights. There’s no better evidence than having to give Dylan Brown a $13 million, 10-year contract to convince him the red-and-blue jersey is a good fit,” he wrote.

“But for Brown, it was also the lure of playing alongside someone he openly admires, Ponga.

Without Ponga, $13 million may not have been enough.”

Speaking on the Matty Johns Show on Thursday night, he also said: “There was a lot of talk of him going to European rugby, it’s not the case… just before he made this statement, I was certain he was leaving.

“It’s really interesting, this R360 competition. It’s got a long, long way to go but they’ve already come out and said they are keen on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Ryan Papenhuyzen.

“It’s pie in the sky at the moment, but things are always changing in sport. They are saying it could be the LIV Golf of rugby union.”

As it stands, Ponga will be a Knights player until the end of the 2027 season, giving him two years to play alongside Brown.

Those two years could prove crucial to his decision moving forward, and if that pair find success in the Hunter, Ponga could be enticed to stay.

As for who they will be playing under, that remains a mystery. But both Johns brothers agree on one thing — O’Brien has done a good job.

“There’s no doubt it’s a tough call,” Matty Johns wrote.

“The Knights have endured a horror run of injuries this season and O’Brien, in many ways, has delivered what the club was after when appointing him; a coach who could stabilise the team and deliver consistent finals appearances.

“That’s a big achievement. In the previous five seasons before O’Brien’s arrival, the Knights had suffered a three-peat of wooden spoons and finished in 11th place twice.

“But some Knights powerbrokers obviously feel O’Brien has taken the team as far as he can.”

However, he did concede the Knights have never looked like genuine premiership contenders, while ‘Joey’ echoed his brother’s opinion.

However, he pointed to the ever-changing football department around him as the reason behind the shaky ground he has been standing on.

“I think O’Brien has done a good job under extreme pressure in a league-mad town,” he wrote.

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