Kalyn Ponga may change allegiance to New Zealand after AJ Brimson changes international eligibility
Kalyn Ponga’s Kangaroos future has remained uncertain after making himself unavailable for Australia last year, but a new precedent may have opened the door for him to switch allegiances to New Zealand.
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A precedent has been set for Kalyn Ponga to switch allegiances to New Zealand should he wish after AJ Brimson was granted approval to change his eligibility from Australia to England.
The International Rugby League (IRL) tribunal unanimously approved Brimson’s switch, which now allows him to represent England at the end of year Ashes series against Australia.
Brimson played the last of his four games for Queensland in 2023. He was also part of Australia’s successful nines squad in 2019. The World Cup nines was used as a reason why Ponga would be unable to represent New Zealand when the uncertainty surrounding his international future emerged last year after he made himself unavailable for the Kangaroos.
This ruling allows Ponga to follow Brimson and switch his preferred country to represent if he wanted.
“At the time, the 9s World Cup was part of IRL’s calendar planning and it was intended to be held every four years,” an IRL statement read.
“However, the tournament has effectively been discontinued and is not part of IRL’s medium term planning.
“Therefore, the tribunal felt that players who had played in the 2019 World Cup 9s were being unfairly restricted as they elected for their country based on a different set of circumstances to players who elect for a country through a 13-a-side match.”
Brimson was born in Australia but is eligible to represent his English heritage through his mother.
RYLES CLEANOUT: $600K EEL GRANTED PERMISSION TO LEAVE CLUB
Parramatta forward Ryan Matterson has been offered a path out of the NSW Cup after he was granted permission by the Eels to explore his options on the open market.
Matterson has struggled to find a place in first grade under new coach Jason Ryles and Sport Confidential understands that his management requested permission to speak to rival clubs this week which has been granted by the club.
Significantly, the Orr brothers were recently spotted in England watching the Super League competition, where they have a number of players and coaches. It comes as Shaun Lane also looks likely to have played his last game for the club as he remains on indefinite leave.
Matterson has played 94 games for the Eels and represented NSW in 2022 but he has spent most of the year in the NSW Cup, making only one appearance in the NRL.
The 30-year-old has already taken up a rich option for next season safeguarding his future for at least another 12 months. Despite taking up the one year contract, he looks headed for the exit door as his management begins to look at his options at rival clubs.
Matterson is one of a number of prominent players at the Eels who find themselves on the outer under the new Ryles regime.
Matterson and Bryce Cartwright have found themselves anchored in the NSW Cup while Joe Ofahengaue was released to join Super League club Leigh.
Back rower Lane is taking a break from the game as he works out his future.
It is understood the club is in talks with Lane about the way forward. Matterson’s path looks more clear as he and his management seek greener pastures.
It paints a stark contrast to his thoughts before the season began when Matterson optimistically wrote about the year ahead as he celebrated the 10-year anniversary of his first contract with the club.
“A decade ago I signed my first NRL contract with the Parramatta Eels, it feels like yesterday,” Matterson wrote.
“Looking forward to a big year ahead with the brothers.”
FLASHBACK
Rugby league was in the midst of the bitter Super League war on this day 30 years ago. The front page story by the late Peter Frilingos highlighted the depths of the ugly split with the ARL ruling Super League aligned players dumped from State of Origin.
SIGN SOUTHS STAR COULD EYE SWITCH
South Sydney young prop Davvy Moale is the first player to ink a short-term deal which will put him in the shop window for the NRL’s newest expansion franchise.
Moale has agreed to a 12-month contract with the Rabbitohs despite the club wanting to secure him on a longer-deal. It means the 22-year-old can talk with rival clubs from November 1 including the new Perth team.
He was off-contract at the end of this season and despite agreeing to a new team he can talk with clubs in just six months.
Moale is the first player to purposely re-commit to their club on a short-term contract to see what could transpire when the NRL moves to an 18-team competition.
Others may look to follow a similar path not just this year but next given PNG will start talking to players from November 1 in 2026 ahead of their entry into the competition in 2028.
Despite his age, Moale has already played 62 top grade games since making his debut for the Rabbitohs in 2021 as a teenager.
The Cook Islands international attracted interest from rival clubs but opted to remain with the Rabbitohs.
TITANS THROW EX-BULLDOG A BONE
The Titans have thrown Ryan Sutton a career lifeline with the former Bulldog linking up with the Gold Coast. Sutton has signed a deal with the Titans for the rest of the season.
Despite the contract he is still some time from taking to the field with the ex-Bulldogs recovering from injury.
Canterbury cut loose Sutton after in March after agreeing to pay out the final year of his contract worth about $550,000.
The move shows Sutton wants to continue to play in the NRL.
The 29-year-old hasn’t played first grade since round 27, 2023 and was limited to just one reserve grade game last year when injury struck.
Prior to signing a three-year contract at Canterbury, Sutton was a mainstay for the Raiders where he played 75 games in four years.
DRAGONS BOSS TO LEAVE CLUB
St George Illawarra chief executive Ryan Webb will formally leave the club on Saturday with his replacement to start in the role later this month.
Webb has remained on at the Dragons despite the parties agreeing last September that he would finish up as St George Illawarra boss in April.
He has stayed an extra month but will finish his duties following the Dragons’ game against the Warriors on Saturday in Wollongong.
Webb’s replacement Tim Watsford will start at the end of this month. Watsford, chief operating officer of Supercars, was appointed in February.
Webb spent five years at the Dragons and led the charge for their new high performance centre with work starting on the $65 million state of the art facility already commencing.
BUNNIES BLOW
Rabbitohs hooker Peter Mamouzelos will miss at least the next six weeks because of an elbow injury. While the Rabbitohs were still awaiting official confirmation on how long the dummy half will be sidelined, the best case scenario is that he will return to action within the next two months.
Tevita Tatola has been relegated to 18th man but his demotion is not form-related.
Instead, South Sydney are aware that he is coming back from a long-term injury and has picked up a couple of other minor injuries already this year that he has been nursing.
Given their growing casualty ward once again, they are mindful of ensuring that he does not have another long stint on the sidelines.
CHOOK GETS HITCHED
Some players go overseas on their bye. Others just chill out. Not Angus Crichton, who used the Roosters break to marry Chloe Esegbona at Krinklewood Estate on Monday.
A host of Roosters players including James Tedesco, Nat Butcher, Victor Radley, Sam Walker, Siua Wong, Spencer Leniu were among the guests, so too were ex-Roosters Boyd Cordner and Dylan Napa.
Connor Watson was part of the bridal party.
EX-PANTHER EYES NRL RETURN
Taylan May has taken the first tentative steps towards a rugby league return after his management reached out to a handful of clubs to gauge their interest in the Samoan international.
May hasn’t been sighted in the NRL since parting ways with Penrith last year amid allegations of domestic violence.
However, the charges were dropped by police in March and the NRL deemed May was free to return to the game.
May put his NRL career on hold to undergo treatment at a private facility while seeking help for mental health issues but a potential return is now on the cards after his management made furtive inquiries with clubs.
RUGBY FACE BATTLE TO KEEP WALLABIES STAR
Rugby Australia have a fight on their hands to keep Tom Wright after it emerged that at least one NRL club had approached the Wallabies superstar over a potential return to the code.
Wright also has interest on the table from French and Japanese rugby but sources close to the 27-year-old told Sport Confidential that an approach had been made by an NRL side amid talk that the game could introduce exemptions for rugby union players to help fatten the player pool.
They will need to act fast given Wright is believed to be only days away from accepting a lucrative offer to play in Japan for the next two years.
“This is exactly the type of situation Australian Rugby can’t afford to be in,” one rugby insider, who asked not to be named, told this masthead.
“Wright is one of the few genuinely world-class players we have, and losing him to Japan would be devastating enough.
“But potentially losing him back to league would be a double blow.”
Wright has history in rugby league. After attending St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill, he kicked off his professional career in the NRL with the Manly in 2016.
He played four first-grade games for the Sea Eagles before making the switch back to rugby union in 2018, joining the Brumbies in Canberra.
Since then, Wright has developed into one of Australian rugby’s most potent attacking weapons, scoring with his first touch in Test footy against New Zealand in 2020 and going on to cement himself as the national team’s first-choice fullback.
Industry insiders believe the NRL approach could be the first salvo in what might is tipped to become a co-ordinated attack on union talent following the ARL Commission’s ambitious expansion plans.
The Commission on Thursday confirmed expansion into Perth, hot on the heels of the move to set up a team in Papua New Guinea team from 2028.
They have already identified union as a means to flesh out the talent pool and Wright would seem an ideal fit given he has history in the code.
Wright played dodged the question when quizzed about a potential NRL return Wright on SEN 1170am on Thursday morning.
“I’m thinking of a way to straight bat this,” he told the Vossy and Brandy breakfast show.
However, rugby league legend Greg Alexander backed calls for clubs to receive a heavy salary cap dispensation if they are to land a rugby player on his breakfast show on SEN 1170.
“I would rubber-stamp (a war chest),” Alexander said on Vossy and Brandy.
“A 50 per cent discount on a Wallaby or any other rugby player. Go for it.”
CRONULLA LEGEND PRAISES WARRIORS
Former Cronulla half Mitch Healey says he will always be grateful to the Warriors after his son Samuel finally got his shot at the big time last weekend.
Samuel Healey came off the bench in the closing stages of the Warriors’ cliffhanger win over North Queensland, almost scoring a try as he quickly showed he belonged in the big time.
The 22-year-old played his junior rugby league in Cronulla, where his father was a Sharks legend after featuring in more than 220 games for the club.
Yet it took a trip across the Tasman for him to get his chance in the NRL.
Mitch was there for his debut in Brisbane at Magic Round along with the other members of his immediate family and a host of Samuel’s mates.
“It’s something he has dreamed about for a long, long time - ever since he could walk and talk, I guess,” Mitch Healey said.
“Like every other young fella, I couldn’t be happier for him. It’s something I never thought would happen. He stuck at it.
“I am really proud of his resilience and I’m really grateful for the for the Warriors.”
Mitch said his son’s debut was a reward for his perseverance and it may yet open a door to international football - Samuel was born in England when his father was finishing his career in Super League.
“He’s made a lot of sacrifices to make it make it happen,” Mitch Healey said.
“Like as I said, he’s wanted this for a long time and the Warriors for the ones that goes in the opportunity. I’m very, very grateful for them for that.”
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