Newcastle Knights NRL star Kalyn Ponga is a TikTok dance sensation
Kalyn Ponga gives a rare insight into his private world, telling PAUL CRAWLEY why this new TikTok dance craze allows him to show who he really is with his moves away from the football field. WATCH THE VIDEO.
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Kids dance to a different beat these days. And the king of the kids right now is Kalyn Ponga.
By his own admission, Newcastle’s freakishly gifted fullback doesn’t care what you think about him.
And that’s not Ponga being disrespectful. That’s just a young man who is totally comfortable in his own skin — and, more importantly, he’s not afraid to show it.
At 22, Ponga gets paid $1 million a year to dance his way around NRL defenders.
But now Ponga is fast becoming just as famous to a new generation of fans.
And it’s all thanks to some impressive moves on social media platform, TikTok.
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Ahead of Newcastle’s crucial clash with Wests Tigers on Saturday, Ponga has given a rare insight into his private world.
From handling the spotlight of being one of the NRL’s most talked about young stars, to his family, some left-field hobbies that include photography and painting, and this latest craze.
“I don’t know who I got my rhythm off but I’d say it’s my mum,” he joked, in his typical nonchalant way.
“I did a dance class when I was little and I always liked dancing.
“Growing up I was always doing it. And now there is a platform where you can show it.”
Ponga has more than 166,000 TikTok followers, while one video alone had more than 2.5 million views — and in total his videos have been viewed more than 14 million times.
SHOWING THE REAL ME
While we often hear sad stories about young sporting stars struggling to cope with vicious and spiteful attacks on social media, Ponga takes it in his stride.
“With social media these days it really allows you to show who you really are,” said Ponga, who has 313,000 Instagram followers to go with his growing TikTok fan club.
“My little motto is if you are going to take the good then you are going to have to take the bad.
“So I just choose not to take either.
“When people are saying I’m doing well I don’t listen to it. And vice versa, when people are saying I am doing bad I don’t listen.”
And having hobbies away from football is his way of not just relaxing, but living.
“I am pretty carefree and easygoing, and having that personality sort of allows me to detach from the game quite easily,” he said.
“I just like doing things.
“I don’t like just staying inside and doing nothing.
“Just being creative in some sort of way … just excites me a little bit. Gets my mind off things.”
That attitude goes to the heart of who this young man really is.
Because beneath the superstar image, it’s the simple pleasures in Ponga’s life that probably make him so well adjusted to the high pressure world in which he thrives.
You only have to ask what he might want to do with his life in 15 or so years when footy is over.
“I thought I wanted to do secondary school teaching because of my little sister,” he said.
“I enjoy showing her things and letting her implement them.
“I get enjoyment out of that but I don’t know if I could sit in a classroom all day.”
For now it’s all about enjoying his life, and making the most of an incredible talent.
FAMILY COMES FIRST
While his mum Adine, father Andre and little sister Kayley are his everything, Kalyn wears a tattoo of a bumblebee on his ankle as a private tribute to his little brother Kacey, who died tragically when he was just 18 months old.
He said of his family: “We are a very close family. They gave me every opportunity to pursue my dreams.”
While Kalyn never had any real sporting heroes growing up, that’s not to say he didn’t have one.
“My dad was my hero,” he continued. “Everything I learned was from my dad.”
Which is why when he had the opportunity, he helped his parents buy their first home.
“It was always a dream or a goal of mine to do that,” he said.
“When I am doing something I am representing my family.”
NOT A FOOTY ‘NERD’
It’s no secret Ponga could have starred in any sport he chose. Whether it was rugby, touch footy, AFL, even golf, a game he was a New Zealand junior champion in.
Thankfully for the NRL, he chose rugby league.
Ponga concedes not so long ago he hardly watched any NRL games, other than the one he was playing in.
“The last couple of years I was playing a lot of my footy based on, I guess, feel,” he explained.
“I didn’t really watch much from the opposition because I felt like I was just learning things as I go.”
But now?
“Footy is getting harder,” he said.
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“I don’t want to really sit back and be content.
“Now I watch footage on the team I am playing.”
And of the eight NRL games every weekend?
“I’ll probably only watch two, maybe, two or three,” he said.
“I just feel like if you consume too much of it, it is not good for you.”
It’s famous how the man who owned the Queensland No 1 jumper before him, Billy Slater, could pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of every player.
Ponga says he’s not near that level, but his preparation has certainly gone up from where it was.
“I’m probably not as much of a nerd as what Billy was,” he said.
“But I am definitely getting better. I do want to learn and study and evolve.
“I can’t just sit back and expect that to happen if you don’t put any work in.”