The Knights have been gripped with fitness concerns over the second half of the season, with regular five-eighth Connor Watson still sidelined with a groin injury until next week.

Youngster Jack Cogger has been named in the No.6 jersey, but Ponga said he was open to a move that will allow Nick Meanie to slot in at fullback.

"I'm not sure if we're going to go with that," he told Newcastle radio station Hit 106.9.

"Brownie is playing around with the idea. I'm open to it, I'll do whatever is best for the team. If that means Means is at the back then I'm happy to play half."

Ponga has been limited to one full training session over the past seven weeks as he nurses through a combination of hamstring and ankle issues.

It has been widely speculated that Ponga's long-term future could be in the halves, however Brown earlier this week insisted any shift was primarily because of his fitness levels.

"We're looking at trying to limit his running, that being the truth of it," Brown said.

"KP hasn't run very much so his fitness levels are dipping a little bit. His attacking influence on the team might improve if he plays at six in the short-term.

"If we could look at him at six, it cuts his kilometres back. At the end of the day he plays like it anyway. It's not going to be a huge change in a lot of ways."

A move into the frontline would likely mean Ponga would be tested in defence by Penrith on Saturday, however Brown said the Queensland representative has already proven his ability.

He made an impressive 28 tackles from 32 attempts on Origin debut in game two.

"He handled it well, and we've all seen him put his body on the line at fullback," Brown said.

"He might get a little bit of extra workload if we do decide to play him there. But he'll run a lot less and him and Mitchell (Pearce) can still work together."

Australian Associated Press