A Kalyn Ponga-inspired Newcastle have claimed their first win of the season after surviving a second-half comeback from Melbourne to triumph 14-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The Knights looked to be cruising to victory on Sunday evening but had a 14-point lead cut to two with seven minutes remaining when Tyran Wishart dummied his way over.

However the home side held on to not only register their first win, but hand a depleted Storm side missing Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Nelson Asofa-Solomona their first defeat of the year.

Ponga’s battle with Melbourne counterpart Ryan Papenhuyzen livened up what was an otherwise error-riddled affair between the two outfits.

The Newcastle co-captain produced the highlight of the night when he came up with a two-man bullet pass out of dummy-half for Enari Tuala in the first half.

HALVES PROBLEM

Adam O’Brien’s decision to axe Jackson Hastings for Jack Cogger caused a stir mid-week, and the Knights coach would feel like his team took a step forward with the win.

However Cogger endured a mixed night, committing three errors in the first half alone, including a kick out on the full early in the first half.

“Cogs had a good game tonight. We need to keep building,” Ponga said on Fox Sports.

Hastings played in the Knights’ 50-24 win over North Sydney in the reserve grade curtain-raiser.

STORM STRENGTH

Any side with roughly a third of their salary cap absent from the line-up was always going to struggle, even a side as consistent as the Storm have been under Craig Bellamy’s watch.

Without Munster (injured), Hughes (suspended) and Asofa-Solomona (reserve grade), the Storm lacked the polish to finish their rare looks at the Knights’ tryline.

They then lost centre Reimis Smith to a suspected rib injury midway through the first half.

But, down 14-0 at halftime, Melbourne fought back with tries to Papenhuyzen and Wishart in the second half to set up a grandstand finish in the final seven minutes.

Hughes will make a welcome return to take on Brisbane after next week’s bye, while Asofa-Solomona will be a chance after making his first appearance of the season with 48 minutes with North Sydney in the NSW Cup.

FLIPPING MOMENT

Papenhuyzen suffered a serious scare when he had his legs taken out by Leo Thompson while leaping for a bomb.

The Storm No.1, who has endured a luckless past two seasons battling major kneecap and ankle surgeries, flipped in mid-air, and was fortunate not to suffer another injury.

Thompson was played on report.

But in a further positive for the Knights, co-captain Jayden Brailey made a successful comeback from an ACL injury when he was injected from the bench early in the second half.

MATCH PREVIEW

Adam O’Brien’s Knights are desperate to record their first win of the 2024 season and get a huge chance against a depleted Storm outfit.

Cameron Munster is sidelined due to a groin injury and Jahrome Hughes was handed a suspension for making contact with referee Chris Butler.

Jonah Pezet and Tyran Wishart make up Craig Bellamy’s second string halves pairing, while backrower Joe Chan was also a late omission due to a hand infection.

Meanwhile, the Knights have made a change on their bench, with Jack Hetherington and Jed Cartwright being replaced by Mat Croker and Dylan Lucas.

Melbourne are coming off a huge victory in the dying seconds against the Warriors, while Newcastle had their hearts broken in golden point against the Cowboys.

TEAMS

Knights team: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Thomas Jenkins 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Enari Tuala 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Jack Cogger 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Leo Thompson 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Adam Elliott 14. Jayden Brailey 15. Daniel Saifiti 20. Mathew Croker 21. Dylan Lucas. 18th man: 18. Brodie Jones

Storm team: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Jonah Pezet 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Tui Kamikamica 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 12. Eliesa Katoa 22. Shawn Blore 13. Trent Loiero 14. Kane Bradley 15. Tepai Moeroa 16. Chris Lewis 17. Alec MacDonald. 18th man: 18. Grant Anderson