Matty Johns column: Gassed Kalyn Ponga to reap the rewards of positional switch

There was one defensive set of six in Newcastle’s win over Cronulla that showed why Kalyn Ponga’s positional switch will require short-term pain for long-term gain, writes Matty Johns.

• LATE MAIL: Dragons to shuffle spine

• TOP PICKS: Who the experts are tipping in Round 2

It is 25 minutes into the contest. The Cronulla Sharks are under the pump and desperately trying to work their way out of trouble off their own line.

A Sharks player takes a run out of dummy half, Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga sprints out of the line and hits and drives him back.

Then one of Cronulla’s big men takes the next run.

WHAM.

Ponga hits and drives again.

Kalyn Ponga’s shift to five-eighth has come at a short-term cost. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)

MORE NRL NEWS

JOHNS: BIG HALVES DILEMMA CONFRONTING DRAGONS

GRIFFIN’S CALL FOR SYDNEY TO LOSE TWO CLUBS

Then again. BANG.

Kalyn makes another — three in the row!

Then, for good measure, he makes it four. CRASH.

The Novocastrian crowd love it. They roar in approval.

A region built on coal and steel always appreciates a man willing to roll up his sleeves, particularly an individual with as many God-given gifts as Ponga.

But then, as the camera follows the football out to the right, Ponga, exhausted, shuffles back onside slowly to the left.

I love the effort but don’t enjoy it as much as the crowd. You see, someone else could have made those tackles. But no one, nobody, can do what a fresh Kalyn Ponga can do with the football.

Ponga makes his first tackle in the set.

Ponga makes his second in a row.

A third straight tackle got the Hunter crowd on their feet.

Four straight tackles for the youngster.

Last Friday, Ponga defended with aggression and intent. But defence is bloody hard work, and with every tackle his petrol gauge lowered just that little bit.

Yes, I would rather still see Ponga wearing the No.1, but I’m in awe of the reasons for the shift.

Reasons which reveal true character.

It was Ponga who requested a meeting with coach Nathan Brown where he asked to be shifted from one to six.

Two reasons.

Firstly, he believed the team would operate better with him wearing at five-eighth.

After excelling, defending in the front line in State of Origin, Ponga wanted to play both sides of the game and believed the Knights’ defence would improve with him there.

Incredibly selfless.

LISTEN NOW! The Matty Johns podcast is now live. He is joined by Paul Kent and James Hooper to debate the big issues including Taumalolo’s impact, the Dragons’ big Widdop problem and to tell some hilarious war stories.

Let’s not forget at fullback in 2018, he was judged the best player in the game by his fellow professionals.

With further experience and natural improvement, Ponga looked set to dominate the competition for years to come in the No.1.

The other reason he gave is that he believed in time he would become an even more complete player in the halves and be able to exert greater dominance.

So let me switch to No.6 now!

That says everything about the mindset of Ponga. A mindset which mirrors that of another young sporting champion 22 years ago.

In 1997, Tiger Woods had just scaled golf’s version of Everest. He didn’t just win his first Masters, he’d won by a record 12 strokes.

A gassed Ponga struggles to keep up with play following the defensive set.

To the outside he looked invincible. He hit the ball longer and straighter than anyone. He was perfect.

But Tiger Woods didn’t think so, there was something inside him which told him he could be better.

He went to the video and studied his own swing, and came to the conclusion that if he were to go to another level he would need to revamp everything about it.

He went to swing guru Butch Harmon and told him he wanted to change everything.

Harmon advised against doing it all at once, telling Tiger it would be a long process and something he would find incredibly difficult to continue to remain competitive through.

Woods replied, “I don’t care.”

Harmon was correct. The deconstruction and reconstruction was a long process. It set his game back and almost certainly cost Woods dozens of tournament wins.

But when the reconstruction was complete, almost two years later, Woods was virtually unbeatable. Another level, perfect.

Ponga’s body will adapt to the new fatigue faced by his defensive role. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

Ponga won’t need to deconstruct his game anywhere to the extent of Woods to reach new heights wearing the No.6, but there will be an adjustment period.

Last week he found the very nature of going up and back, defending in the front line, fatiguing.

Ponga found himself involved in a lot more ‘set-up’ plays, investigating the defence, rather than finding the ball in his hands when there was something definitely on.

At fullback the ball is kicked, passed and gifted to you. In the halves you need to impose your personality and demand it. Mitchell Pearce handled the ball on more than 50 occasions, Ponga a little more than 20.

But watch him get better week by week.

The six and one roles are similar, it’s just that in the six there’s more graft and more thought.

The defensive stamina will come and Ponga’s intelligence will soon see him controlling the tempo of the contest and the players around him.

Ponga’s plan is that the six will one day make him a better player, that one day, in my opinion, will be more like weeks than years.