State of Origin: Kalyn Ponga the rock star who dares to be different

Kalyn Ponga strode into State of Origin with the swagger of a young Janis Joplin at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Kalyn Ponga runs into the Blues’ defence at ANZ Stadium last night. Picture: AAP

The 20-year-old Kalyn Ponga strode into State of Origin with the swagger of a young Janis Joplin at the Monterey Pop Festival, strapped on his headgear lest his brain exploded with ideas, gulped a few deep breaths and then proceeded to chase the ball around as if he was back in the juniors at Mackay and no one had any discernible positions on the field.

The Daily Texan once ran a profile of Joplin under the headline of “She Dares To Be Different”.

Of the tens of thousands of words you could say about Ponga ahead of his Origin debut, those last four words about Joplin could just as easily have applied to him. If nothing else for the Newcastle Knights this year, he’s dared to be like no one else in the NRL. Great plays. Dumb plays. Miracles. Mistakes. He’s become a freewheeling if unpredictable revelation and last night at ANZ Stadium, he entered the fray in the headline role of rock star.

He might be heavily involved and influential. He might run around like a head with its chook cut off. The contrast was stark with the Blues’ 31-year debutant Matt Prior and his role as a pack horse of the forwards.

Ponga began on the bench. He sat on it for all of five seconds before he jumped on an exercise bike and started pumping his legs. He was doing that so quickly that he might need to be taken off on a stretcher if he kept it up.

Back to the bench he went, stretching, sitting on the edge of his seat, running up and down the sideline in white boots, waiting for his moment. Back onto the bike he went, unable to be still even when he was. He touched his toes, did star jumps, made a bit of a spectacle of himself like a Test cricketer wanting to come on to bowl.

Maroons coach Kevin Walters had his brother, Steve, wearing a headset on the sideline. When NSW winger Josh Addo-Carr scored late in the first half, Walters pointed straight at Ponga. You’re on. His first duty was to stick his head into a scrum in the second row. One minute later, he was penalised for being offside right before Blues captain Boyd Cordner’s penalty try. Ponga began his Origin career right when the Maroons went without the ball for what seemed an eternity. It took him seven long minutes to get his first touch. He knocked the wind out of Tom Trbojevic in a heavy tackle but jogged up the tunnel at halftime with a 12-10 deficit and work to do.

He smothered a kick from James Maloney that gave the Blues another set of six tackles and led to Latrell Mitchell’s game-busting try. And then he hit warp speed. Every touch was electrifying. He rose to the occasion like everyone suspected he would.

Inside the final 15 minutes, he was scooting away for what threatened to be a fairytale try … only to be chopped down by Blues fullback James Tedesco just metres from the line.

He throws himself off his feet with last-minute passes. The Maroons start throwing him the ball in the hope he’s everything he’s cracked up to be. And he is. But he runs out of time. Hands are on hips. His first Origin ends with the sting of defeat.