Andrew Johns’ brutal call on ‘mind-blowing’ $2.7m Ponga detail

Star playmaker Dylan Brown and his contract saga is the talk of the NRL, but Kalyn Ponga’s future is also suddenly a talking point.

Dylan Brown’s contract saga is the talk of the NRL, but Kalyn Ponga is emerging as one of the biggest players in the ongoing circus.

Watch your team in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership. Stream every round LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

As reported last month, the Newcastle Knights have tabled a massive ten-year, $13 million offer to Brown, which is a $300,000 annual spike on his current deal with the Eels.

Brown’s contract with Parramatta runs until 2031 but is littered with controversial get out clauses. He has one for 2026 which means he has until Round 10 of this year to opt out of his current deal if he wishes to do so.

In the meantime, he can negotiate with rival clubs, with the Knights emerging as the leading candidate.

Code Sports now reports Brown’s potential $1.3 million-per-season offer includes a “ratchet clause” that allows some fluidity to the salary he would be paid and the percentage of salary cap space his wages would take up.

The clause would put limitations on how much Brown’s salary would rise when the NRL next reviews and raises the cap.

Kalyn Ponga of the Knights needs a sidekick. Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images.

That caveat reportedly means Brown will not earn more than Ponga, who is contracted with Newcastle until the end of the 2027 NRL season, reportedly valued at $1.4 million per-year.

Coughing up $2.7 million-per-year on two players would be an almighty gamble for the club which would have less than $10 million to spend on the other 28 players on its senior roster.

The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read and Michael Carayannis describe the 10-year offer to Brown as “mind-blowing”.

Knights legend Andrew Johns this week said bluntly Brown hasn’t yet proven himself to be worthy of such a mega-deal.

“Not as a five-eighth, no, if they’re going to sign Dylan on that money,” Johns told Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour.

“It’s a lot of money. But he is a class player. When he’s on he is a world-class player, without doubt. But with a big price tag comes a lot of pressure.

“I’ve worked with Dylan — great young fella, tough, trains hard... but whether he’s got the tools to be a main playmaker I don’t know.

“I’d love to see him in the Knights colours, but whether it gets done or not I don’t know.”

With Eels captain Mitchell Moses missing the first six rounds of the season, the pressure to lead the team around the field falls on Brown’s shoulders.

“It feels like the last month, every time you open a paper there is talk of where Dylan is going, certain clauses in his contract,” Johns said.

“All eyes, everyone in rugby league, is going to be watching Dylan (in round one) and having an opinion.

“I don’t think it will affect him at all, he’s a real laid back character... (but) come Monday there is going to be so much talk about Dylan and how he went without Moses.”

Moses last month signed a monster extension with the club through to the end of the 2029 season.

Johns said Brown’s player agent Gavin Orr has put more pressure on Brown to perform because of the circus that has put him on the open market for the 2026 season.

“He signed a seven-year contract. For me, if you sign a contract that’s it - that is your integrity, that’s your word,” he said.

“It puts unwanted pressure on Dylan. If Parramatta starts the season slow, he is going to wear the brunt of it.

“The job of a player manager is to take the pressure off your client, not to put more on.”

Kalyn Ponga (left), Andrew Johns (centre) and Dylan Brown (right).

The million-dollar question everyone seems to be asking is whether the Knights could find a way to keep their salary cap balanced if Ponga and Brown take up such a significant piece of the pie.

Former Roosters captain and Fox League NRL 360 host Braith Anasta said last month he believes it’s a “risk the Knights should take”.

However, leading rugby league journalist David Riccio said: “This is a risk beyond all means. I see it as a desperate play by a desperate footy club that’s trying to get a significant signing.

“I think it’s an additional play to keep Kalyn Ponga. Right now, the Knights are losing more than they’re signing.”

“They need elite players around him because they’ll waste Ponga’s best years … If you don’t surround him with good talent then you have just wasted his best years,” Riccio’s colleague Michael Carayannis countered.

“I’m sure the Knights won’t want to give him a ten-year deal, but they have to do it to compete with Parramatta.”

The Knights, it seems, are ready to roll the dice.

The Eels face the Storm in their season opener on Sunday at AAMI Park.

Originally published as Andrew Johns’ brutal call on ‘mind-blowing’ $2.7m Ponga detail