Keary KO'd again on horror night for Roosters and Blues
Luke Keary was knocked out cold on what was a horror night for the Sydney Roosters – and the NSW Blues.
The premiers were absolutely walloped by a resurgent Newcastle, who marched to their fifth straight victory.
Kalyn Ponga, who was again on the end of some bruising late shots, scored a try for a sixth successive week, and former Rooster Mitchell Pearce kissed the Knights emblem when he scored in a not-so-subtle dig at his former employers.
The Roosters relied on Keary to get them around the park after resting Cooper Cronk.
But the five-eighth lasted just eight minutes when he was flattened by Knights prop Daniel Saifiti and did not appear conscious as Roosters medicos rushed to his side.
It was Keary's second heavy concussion in the space of five weeks after being forced to cut short his night in the Good Friday epic against Melbourne.
Keary told the Herald upon his return that he was nervous for the first time in his playing career because he had suffered several worrying head knocks in the past 18 months.
His hopes of playing against Queensland on Wednesday week appear slim at best. For starters, he would be severely restricted in how much training he would be able to complete.
Blues coach Brad Fittler was on the sidelines for Nine and would have dreaded seeing his possible five-eighth assisted from the field. He was naturally concerned for his health and, after he checked on him at half-time, told TV viewers: ''He's feeling a headache, put it that way."
The debate about who should wear the No. 6 for NSW will now kick into overdrive before the team is officially named on Sunday evening. Cody Walker will be one name, while James Maloney partnering Nathan Cleary seems the safest and most logical.
Newcastle fans will be having their own arguments about whether their side can push hard for the title this year.
Pearce enjoyed the rare chance to shine in the Friday night time-slot against the club who virtually moved him on for Cronk.
But Pearce played with plenty of energy and barked orders at his players.
He crashed over for a try right on half-time, then stood and punched his chest when a flat cut-out ball put Edrick Lee over in the corner late in the game.
Ponga's try before half-time was another one for the highlights reel.
The Queensland ace showed some electric footwork to get on the outside of Angus Crichton and then brush off former Knight Brock Lamb to score.
Rival clubs have done their best to smash Ponga late, and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves did just that midway through the second half and sparked a melee. The tackle was deemed legal, but Waerea-Hargreaves had more than 25,000 fans booing him for the remainder of the night.
Ponga left the field but appeared fine at full-time.
There was no love lost between the sides and when David Klemmer was sent to the sin-bin with seconds remaining he received a standing ovation from a large section of the crowd.
The Roostersare about to enter the representative period with skipper Boyd Cordner, James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell and Angus Crichton to have their workloads closely monitored.
Coach Trent Robinson will be hoping he has the depth to get the club through the next two months.
Knights counterpart Nathan Brown was a dead man walking six weeks ago and would have wished there was no bye next weekend so his players could continue their amazing run.
The only bad news for the Knights was losing hooker Danny Levi, whose left ankle appeared to get stuck in the turf in a freak accident that ended his night well before half-time.
NEWCASTLE 38 (H Hunt E Lee M Pearce K Ponga C Watson tries K Ponga 7 M Barnett 2 goals) SYDNEY ROOSTERS 12 (S Taukeiaho J Tedesco tries L Mitchell 2 goals) at McDonald Jones Stadium. Referees: Ben Cummins, Peter Gough. Crowd: 25,929.