Time to see what Knights recruit Kalyn Ponga is truly made of

ROBERT CRADDOCK: The Knights were criticised for paying Kalyn Ponga so much on the strength of two first grade games, but have they got a bargain?

FOR four years Kalyn Ponga has been a ghostly figure on the rugby league horizon but this year it’s different. At last we get to see what he’s truly made of.

It may seem unfair to ask a 19-year-old to learn and lead at the same time in his first full season of first grade but this essentially is Ponga’s lot.

You don’t pay a teenager $600,000 a year as Newcastle have done, snatching him from the Cowboys, to be a development player.

We will find out whether the Knights, who were criticised for paying Ponga so much on the strength of two first grade games, may have actually got a bargain.

Will Ponga be part of a new generation who will lead the Knights out of their dark abyss?

Or will Newcastle, even with the likes of Mitchell Pearce, Connor Watson, and Aidan Guerra, still be stuck down the mine shaft?

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New recruit Kalyn Ponga. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Like most teenage wonder boys, you sense there will be no middle ground with Ponga’s career. One way or another, he’s not going to be Joe Average.

Many seasoned judges believe injury is the only thing that will stop him being an exceptional player.

A nice story floated back from my son’s school the other day where a teacher told his students to “be like Kalyn Ponga’’, explaining how when Ponga was a young star he still made a point of getting drinks for battling players and picking up witches hats.

Ponga has been a figure of immense curiosity even before a YouTube video of his first XV highlights four years ago in GPS for Churchie went viral, showcasing his in and outs, shows and go’s and backhanded passes.

His footwork is startling, almost a throwback to eras where rugby league was a game of more poise and less power.

You have only got to watch it once to know why he was chased by the Reds, the Lions and a cluster of league clubs.

Queensland coach Kevin Walters last week named Ponga as one of three standouts from his State of Origin camp for emerging players but the biggest praise came from fellow Knights recruit Pearce who has been watching him closely at training.

Kalyn Ponga impressed Queensland State of Origin coach Kevin Walters.

“Kalyn Ponga is as naturally talented a player as you’ll ever see,’’ Pearce wrote in a column on the Players Voice website.

“He reminds me a bit of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in his breakthrough season.

“He’s got footwork, vision, power … the lot. And the thing that’s most impressive is he knows when to use those gifts — and when not to.

“Sometimes, you’ll see a kid come along with brilliant footwork and he’ll tend to overplay his hand a bit. Kalyn isn’t like that. He’s a cool head, a composed thinker, and he reads the game really well. That’s unique for a player his age.

“It’s a big call, but I can see him eventually taking on that ball-playing fullback/five-eighth role like Darren Lockyer used to.’’

Mitchell Pearce likes what he’s seen from fellow Knights recruit Kalyn Ponga.

One of Lockyer’s great gifts — apart from his passing, kicking and general skills — was the ability to shine despite being a marked man targeted match after match, season after season.

Ponga will soon face that pressure and if he can stand up to it he might just be the Knight in shining armour who helps to turn Newcastle into the great club they once were.

Originally published as Time to see what Knights recruit Kalyn Ponga is truly made of