Kalyn Ponga shows he’s worthy of the hype with impressive Knights debut

WHEN Newcastle forked out $3 million over four years for Kalyn Ponga, most thought it was crazy cash. Not so, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.

Kalyn Ponga on the charge for the Knights.

SO you think the hype surrounding Newcastle’s star teenage recruit Kalyn Ponga is over the top?

Think again.

Mal Meninga, Justin Hodges and Billy Moore were talking about the 19-year-old on Fox League’s Queenslanders Only this week.

Three State of Origin legends discussing Ponga’s Newcastle debut against Manly, when he scored a try, saved two and kicked three goals from as many attempts in the golden-point win.

Kalyn Ponga impressed in his debut for the Knights.

Debating Ponga’s future Origin credentials when the Maroons’ No. 1 jumper becomes available, Moore said: “For someone that young, just with his confidence, it was like, ‘I am made to be here’. When the times comes to take on that custodian role for Queensland, I think it is going to be seamless.”

It’s worth emphasising that Moore was sitting alongside Meninga and Hodges when he said this.

And neither Meninga nor Hodges so much as blinked.

Artwork: Scott “Boo” Bailey for web

Remember, this is a kid who has played just 10 NRL games.

Meninga also praised Ponga’s positional play and the fact he can kick goals.

When Newcastle forked out $3 million over four years for Ponga, most thought it was crazy cash. After watching Ponga again last Friday night, you can’t help but think the Knights may have got themselves a bargain.

Years ago there was a story about Parramatta knocking back the chance to snap up a schoolboy from Penrith because they didn’t want to splurge $30,000 on one so young.

That schoolboy’s name was Brad Fittler.

GI’S STILL THE ONE FOR RABBITOHS

Is Greg Inglis ready for a switch to fullback?

SHANE Flanagan made the call this week to switch Josh Dugan to fullback and put Valentine Holmes back on the wing.

And after watching South Sydney in their opening loss to the Warriors, I just wonder how long it will be before Anthony Seibold reshuffles his line-up and hands Greg Inglis the No. 1 jumper again.

Especially with Adam Reynolds now out for a month with a knee injury. It’s really going to test Alex Johnston’s ball-playing ability.

Johnston is relatively new to the role and needs to be given time to develop. But you just wonder if now is the right time to be doing that.

Even if Inglis is still not back to 100 per cent, he has enough footy smarts to get him through, and the threat and direction he would give the team would have to take the pressure off everyone.

DCE’S CHALLENGE FOR SEA EAGLES

Daly Cherry-Evans has a tough task running the Sea Eagles attack.

MOST thought Daly Cherry-Evans was hard done by last year when he missed out on the Queensland team.

Without Blake Green beside him this year, it will be interesting to see how DCE handles the extra responsibility of running Manly.

You have to say he was outpointed by Mitchell Pearce in last week’s 19-18 loss to Newcastle because that game was Manly’s to lose yet they couldn’t take advantage of their clear second-half dominance.

Manly were also run down in their final trial loss to the Roosters. In both games, Jake Trbojevic’s increased ball-playing influence was noticeable, but so was the absence of Green’s finish to sets.

THUMBS UP

A LOT of good things are happening at Newcastle this year under the new ownership of the powerful Wests Group.

And the Knights’ new boss Phil Gardner showed good leadership this week by publicly telling his players to pull their heads in.

With Mitchell Pearce, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and the Saifiti boys all getting a mention for what were said to be minor issues, Gardner still made it known that poor behaviour won’t be tolerated.

THUMBS DOWN

JUST when you thought the winds of change where blowing in a positive direction at the NRL after the departure of John Grant, up steps Peter Beattie.

There was just no excuse for the new ARL Commission chairman not knowing who the Cronulla Sharks were in his interview with Phil Gould.

Beattie tried to laugh it off.

But it’s just not funny after what the game has gone through in recent years.

Having Dave Smith not know who Cameron Smith was and that Benji Marshall and Ben Barba were different people, followed by Grant inventing the Manly Seagulls and Cronulla Hawks, now we have another who calls himself a fan. What real fan wouldn’t know the answer to Gus’s “too bloody hard” question?

Beattie answers the questions we've all been asking. #100PercentFooty pic.twitter.com/NzQcSvhWPN

— 100% Footy (@100percentfooty) March 12, 2018

GOOD GUY GAV

GAVIN Cooper didn’t win any friends by accusing Cronulla of dirty tactics on Matt Scott.

But if Cooper believes it happened and he had the guts to say it publicly, good on him for sticking up for his mate.

I couldn’t see any conclusive evidence of anything untoward.

But I still can’t get my head around players and former players saying this type of stuff doesn’t happen anymore.

It might not be coached, but the evidence has been before us in recent years. Do they really need reminding?

Originally published as Kalyn Ponga shows he’s worthy of the hype with impressive Knights debut