Ponga out of Origin, Griffin to undergo fourth ACL surgery

Newcastle whiz kid Kalyn Ponga has been ruled out of State of Origin game three with a hamstring strain as the career of Knights hooker Slade Griffin is at the crossroads after a horrific knee injury.

Ponga, who limped from the field in the Knights' loss to the Bulldogs at McDonald Jones Stadium just six days after his spectacular Origin debut, will miss three to four weeks with the grade one injury.

It potentially paves the way for Daly Cherry-Evans to earn a long-awaited Queensland recall or Anthony Milford to be parachuted back into the Maroons squad after losing his spot to Ponga for game two.

It's also a bitter blow for the Knights, whose finals assault is hanging by a thread after capitulating against a struggling Bulldogs. They are expecting halfback Mitchell Pearce (pectoral) back in the next fortnight.

But they won't have former Storm rake Griffin any time soon after he suffered multiple ligament damage in his knee after buckling horrifically under a first-half tackle against Canterbury. He ruptured a previous ACL graft and also tore a further knee ligament and meniscus.

He will undergo a fourth knee reconstruction in the coming weeks.