For Canberra Raiders fans, Kalyn Ponga's return couldn't come at a worse time.
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The Newcastle Knights captain has made a habit of terrorising the Green Machine since he joined the NRL club.
Such is his influence for the Knights that whenever the fullback has scored a try against the Raiders Newcastle has won.
The five tries he's scored against the Green Machine has resulted in five victories as part of his overall record of six wins in nine games.
It's almost completely the opposite when Canberra manages to keep him quiet, with the Knights only winning one of the four games he's failed to score a four-pointer in.
The 26-year-old has been out since round seven with a Lisfranc injury that needed surgery, meaning the Raiders game at Canberra Stadium on Sunday will be his first in 11 weeks.
![The Raiders have struggled to stop returning Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga. Picture by Jonthan Carroll The Raiders have struggled to stop returning Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga. Picture by Jonthan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/68bdcb87-e577-465f-a23f-7388346d9f38.jpg/r0_91_5121_3414_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Canberra is looking to end a three-game losing streak that's led to them falling out of the eight.
So how will the Green Machine stop Newcastle's most influential player?
Time is the enemy when it comes to Ponga - let him have and he'll make you look silly. Take it away and you're half a chance.
"He's the X-factor and the heart-and-soul of the team, so we know that they're going to come out strong with him coming back so we'll be ready," Raiders centre Albert Hopoate.
"We've just got to take his time away from him because if you give him time he'll make you look like a little kid.
"So just take his time away and be aggressive on him."
Raiders halfback Adam Cook had similar thoughts.
Luckily for both he and Hopoate the responsibility of enacting the plan could fall to the Raiders' other edge.
They play on Canberra's left, while Ponga prefers to chime into attack down Newcastle's left, teaming up with the likes of centre Bradman Best - meaning the job of stopping him falls to the Raiders' right.
That means the stop-Ponga duties will likely fall to Xavier Savage, Matt Timoko, Elliott Whitehead and Ethan Strange.
That being said, Ponga terrorised the Raiders' left in the thrilling elimination final between the teams last year, when he got the Knights back into the game in a 15-minute burst.
"[Ponga's] a good player isn't he. He'll be back. Just limit his opportunities I think and try not to give him too much space and we'll be working on that," Cook said.
Timoko goes into the game under an injury cloud, having subluxated his right shoulder in each of the Raiders' past two games.
But he's been passed fit to play and has taken part in training this week.
His shoulder is set to get another test from Ponga.
Hopoate said Timoko was feeling confident about his shoulder, which he had scans on on Monday.
Timoko's run metres have only been slightly down the past two weeks - running for 111m and 129m, down from his season average of 160m.
"He's been good. His shoulder, that's what's been holding him back the last couple of weeks, but he feels confident so hopefully he'll come out strong on Sunday," Hopoate said.
While the Knights have Ponga, the Raiders were looking to turn their fullback, Kaeo Weekes, into a similarly attacking weapon.
Raiders fans have seen glimpses of how damaging Weekes' pace can be - he's scored five tries in his eight NRL games this season.
Cook said they were working to really get him firing now that he's been moved from halfback to fullback.
"Kaeo's speed is obviously a massive weapon for us - playing him out the back and when he gets those three-on-twos he really executes that," he said.
"Me and Stranger just want to give him that ball in that space and let him do his thing. He's been really helpful for me so far."
NRL ROUND 18
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 4.05pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Kaeo Weekes, 2. Jordan Rapana, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Albert Hopoate, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Adam Cook, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (C), 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Danny Levi 15. Ata Mariota 16. Trey Mooney 17. Simi Sasagi. Reserves: 18. Seb Kris, 19. Zac Woolford, 20. Emre Guler, 21. James Schiller, 22. Hohepa Puru.
Knights squad: 1. Kalyn Ponga (C), 2. Enari Tuala, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Bradman Best, 5. Greg Marzhew, 6. Will Pryce, 7. Jackson Hastings, 8. Daniel Saifiti, 9. Jayden Brailey, 10. Leo Thompson, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Kai Pearce-Paul, 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Fletcher Sharpe, 15. Jacob Saifiti, 16. Brodie Jones, 17. Dylan Lucas. Reserves: 18. Mathew Croker, 19. Jack Hetherington, 20. Jack Cogger, 21. Krystian Mapapalangi, 22. Thomas Cant.