'It's ridiculous': Adam O'Brien blames schedule for 'disappointing' Kalyn Ponga call

Knights coach Adam O'Brien blamed scheduling for his decision to block Kalyn Ponga from backing up from State of Origin after his side's 20-6 loss to the Dragons.

Having been named to back up only 48 hours after the Origin series opener, O'Brien pulled his gun fullback only hours before play to give an ankle injury he took into game one time to recover.

Ponga's Maroons teammate Valentine Holmes backed up for the Dragons. He kicked four from four.

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O'Brien said Ponga did "everything he could" to be fit for the match, and conceded he was "a little bit angry" with the call.

"I took the decision away from him, because it was the right thing to do," he told reporters.

"I know Val (Holmes) backed up, but he's a centre. Kalyn had a pretty rough week, 10 days up there where he's trying to get that ankle right for Origin.

"It's the type of injury that takes a few days to settle down, so two days is not enough.

"He's disappointed (and) a little bit angry with me, but again we've gotta protect (our players)."

The Knights were a shadow of the team that beat the Panthers a week earlier in Bathurst.

O'Brien said it wasn't so much the Dragons clash that was the issue, but next week's clash with Manly, scheduled for Thursday night.

He said the schedule should've given the Knights a Saturday or Sunday slot next week.

"In (the Ponga) battle, we lost to the scheduling and the draw," he said.

"Someone's got to play Friday. OK, we get that. But then they give us next Thursday as well, hit us again? It would have been three games in eight days. That's not looking after our players, so I had to step in and I had to look after him.

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"It would have been good if someone said 'Hey, let's give them a Saturday or a Sunday the following week'. Whoever does the draws either hasn't lived it or doesn't care, so I don't know which one it is.

"You've got teams like Canberra (who) still haven't had a bye yet, and then you've got other teams that haven't left home in seven games in a row. It's ridiculous."

O'Brien said the draw had no bearing on the rest of the team's performance against the Dragons, who moved into the top-six with the win.

The Knights continue to languish in 14th, although remain only two wins out of the eight.