Live: Ponga ruled out of Roosters blockbuster

Round 21 of the NRL season continues on Friday with Newcastle taking on the Roosters before South Sydney host Melbourne.The Knights will be without skipper Kalyn Ponga for their clash with the Tricolours as they look to bounce back from consecutive losses.Later, the Storm will be looking to keep their finals hopes alive when they face the injury-hit Rabbitohs.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:01pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:01pmA minute's silence for Scott DureauAn emotional moment before the game with a minute's silence for former Knights halfback Scott Dureau, who passed away last week at 39 after a long illness.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:56pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:56pmLast time they metAn injury hit Knights team put the gloves up for 40 minutes when these two sides met a few months ago but the Roosters turned it on late.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:40pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:40pmFinal teams: Knights vs RoostersBig news is Kalyn Ponga missing out for the Knights with a slight quad injury. Fletcher Sharpe moves back to fullback with Sandon Smith starting in the halves.We also have Cody Hopwood starting at prop and Tyson Frizell dropping back to the bench.Roosters are 1-17.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:38pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 5:38pmHello and welcome to the ABC's Friday night football blogWelcome, my friends, to the show that never ends.We've got two NRL matches tonight, both with big finals implications.First up it's Knights-Roosters, an all top eight battle, before the Rabbitohs and the Storm duke it out to try and lock up their places in the finals.It's fixing to be a good one, a hearty TGIF to all who celebrate and let's have some fun out there.