The Knights’ halves stocks suffered another blow as Newcastle and Manly played out a thrilling 32-all draw in Mudgee on Saturday afternoon, a concussed Tyson Gamble hitting the deck in frightening scenes.
Three weeks after chief Knights five-eighth Kalyn Ponga was ruled out indefinitely due to a head knock, Newcastle lost the man who replaced him.
Gamble bent low to tackle Manly winger Reuben Garrick and was smashed in the head.
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The collision rocked the former Bronco, who was backtracking in defence as he stumbled and crashed to the turf.
Gamble was removed from the field for a head injury assessment and failed the examination, meaning he will only be allowed to face the Warriors in Newcastle next Sunday evening if the Knights apply for an exemption and are successful.
Gamble will almost certainly be ruled out of round six due to the NRL’s new 11-day stand-down policy.
If that is the case, halfback Jackson Hastings will have a third halves partner in six weeks.
“He’s back to his usual self down in the sheds,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said of Gamble, a renowned rugby league larrikin.
“I saw the incident from the box and he didn’t look great, but he’s been good in the sheds.”
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O’Brien suggested the Knights were better equipped to handle an injury crisis than ever before in his Newcastle reign.
“We’re getting used to it. We’ve had years of this. Just ‘Righto, next one in and we’ll find a way to get it done’,” O’Brien said.
“As I said at the start, when we’ve had to make those changes in the past we haven’t been able to overcome it, but I feel like with this group (we can).”
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The clash between Newcastle and Manly had huge momentum swings.
While the Sea Eagles shot out to a 10-0 lead in eight minutes, the Knights had a 28-16 buffer just before the hour mark.
Hastings fired off a field goal attempt in the dying seconds of golden point but it missed to the right.
Newcastle winger Dominic Young starred after being recalled following his axing, bagging four tries.
The Sea Eagles will take on the Panthers in Penrith next Saturday evening.
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