After a season of talk around their halves, Sharpe lasted just 25 minutes alongside the NRL's highest-paid player, Dylan Brown, before he limped from Allegiant Stadium on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
Creating cause for concern for the Knights was the fact Sharpe's left knee buckled under no contact, before he was caught out in defence a moment later.
The 20-year-old will go for scans once back in Australia, but Knights medical staff have already ruled out the prospect of an ACL tear.
Instead, they are confident it is only a medial ligament injury and Sharpe may only be sidelined for a matter of weeks.
"It's obviously frustrating personally, a little niggle in the knee, but I'm obviously pumped for the team," Sharpe said.
"It just wasn't right. Fingers crossed everything's all good, I'll get home and get some scans.
"I was just kind of side-shuffling and went down.
"Pain-wise is all good. I've got no pain … (but) actually using it is a bit restrictive."
In Sharpe's time on the field, the signs were good for Newcastle and their new-look attack.
He scored Newcastle's first try and threw a pass for the Knights' second, before limping from the field after letting North Queensland get back to 12-6.
"(He was) electrifying," Knights coach Justin Holbrook said.
"When he was out there, we looked dangerous every time.
"We were threatening and well on top after 25 minutes. He was a big part of that."
Then there was Ponga, who looked good with Sharpe at No.6 and equally-impressive when Sandon Smith replaced the youngster.
The Newcastle captain acted as an extra general, seemingly increasing his amount of touches in attack and regularly acting as a kicker close to the line.
After forcing a dropout early with his grubber, he helped lay on the first try of the season with a bomb for the chasing Sharpe.
And while North Queensland got back into the game at 12-12, it was Ponga who then broke it open in the second half.
Combining nicely with Smith, the fullback broke into space when he ran onto an inside ball and sent Bradman Best over.
The No.1 was then involved again in the Knights' next, when he went across field and combined with Brown, before Best tapped on a ball for Dom Young to score.
And while the Cowboys got it back to 22-18 when Jake Clifford caught Brown rushing out of the line to break free and kick for Taulagi, a Braidon Burns sin-bin for hitting Ponga high killed off their charge.
A late Trey Mooney try eventually sealed Newcastle's first win since last June, in a season where the Knights attacked offered just 14 points per game.
For North Queensland, Heilum Luki looked good in attack on return from an ACL injury, while Tom Dearden had his good moments.
But fullback Scott Drinkwater required time off the field in the first half with a rib injury, while fellow Cowboy Thomas Mikaele also suffered a knee injury before the break.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten fumed afterwards, believing Knights veteran Tyson Frizell should have been sin-binned when he was fourth man into a tackle and struck Mikaele's leg.
"I'm really disappointed with how the Tom Mikaele incident was handled," Payten said.
"Considering Kalyn gets up and plays on, and Tom's out for the next six weeks. I would just like a bit of consistency."
