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Mid season Dally M predictions

Pedge1971

First Grade
Messages
5,898
Cowboys hardly "let" Ponga go.

Agreed. But did they really realise what they had?

All last year after the kid signed to go and this year as well some Cows fans here tagges his defence as weak and his positional play at fb as well. Which was prob fair judging his limited nrl experience.

But they must have seen what the kid could do as a playmaker or did they? Really dont know. I get them keeping guys/legends who won a comp but questions should be asked after this year. Paul Green and coaching staff especially.

Then Ponga comes out in 1 pre season with the Knights with a blank piece of paper (lets face it we are f**ked the kid had free reign) and in pre season they were talking about shit he was doing which was nice but we have heard it all before with rookies.

What he has done at the Knights this year is way above expectation. More than good enough to say his pay cheque was a bargain. Then desperate Kev takes him in Origin and parks a Ferrari in with the Tata minibuses. Kid still kills it and the defence barbs of the past are smoked.

As a Knights fan I am clearly stoked we have the kid and in 30 years we have only seen the likes of him once at our club.

In terms of Dally M he will win it one day. I hope with our club but if he does not, I dont really care. Give me a premiership (alright a farging finals appearance will do for now!) then I will be forever grateful to Kalyn, Paul Green and the Cowboys.

Rant over. Thanks.
 

AJB1102

First Grade
Messages
6,339
Agreed. But did they really realise what they had?

All last year after the kid signed to go and this year as well some Cows fans here tagges his defence as weak and his positional play at fb as well. Which was prob fair judging his limited nrl experience.

But they must have seen what the kid could do as a playmaker or did they? Really dont know. I get them keeping guys/legends who won a comp but questions should be asked after this year. Paul Green and coaching staff especially.

Then Ponga comes out in 1 pre season with the Knights with a blank piece of paper (lets face it we are f**ked the kid had free reign) and in pre season they were talking about shit he was doing which was nice but we have heard it all before with rookies.

What he has done at the Knights this year is way above expectation. More than good enough to say his pay cheque was a bargain. Then desperate Kev takes him in Origin and parks a Ferrari in with the Tata minibuses. Kid still kills it and the defence barbs of the past are smoked.

As a Knights fan I am clearly stoked we have the kid and in 30 years we have only seen the likes of him once at our club.

In terms of Dally M he will win it one day. I hope with our club but if he does not, I dont really care. Give me a premiership (alright a farging finals appearance will do for now!) then I will be forever grateful to Kalyn, Paul Green and the Cowboys.

Rant over. Thanks.

Nah not sure they knew he was that good. But they had proven players I guess to prioritise unlike Knights. My main point though was Cows didn't just "let" him go hands up without a fight. If they could go again now they'd probably bid more. I reckon Sharks would go harder for Ramien right now too, also reckon Ramien would be asking more.

Brown (and/or Mooney) are doing well recruiting tomorrows talent today.

Wouldn't say Ponga has lived up to expectations/price tag yet. His scalp will be top prize for defensive coaches when they play Knights for a while yet.
 
Last edited:

Canard

Immortal
Messages
34,147
Agreed. But did they really realise what they had?

All last year after the kid signed to go and this year as well some Cows fans here tagges his defence as weak and his positional play at fb as well. Which was prob fair judging his limited nrl experience.

But they must have seen what the kid could do as a playmaker or did they? Really dont know. I get them keeping guys/legends who won a comp but questions should be asked after this year. Paul Green and coaching staff especially.

Then Ponga comes out in 1 pre season with the Knights with a blank piece of paper (lets face it we are f**ked the kid had free reign) and in pre season they were talking about shit he was doing which was nice but we have heard it all before with rookies.

What he has done at the Knights this year is way above expectation. More than good enough to say his pay cheque was a bargain. Then desperate Kev takes him in Origin and parks a Ferrari in with the Tata minibuses. Kid still kills it and the defence barbs of the past are smoked.

As a Knights fan I am clearly stoked we have the kid and in 30 years we have only seen the likes of him once at our club.

In terms of Dally M he will win it one day. I hope with our club but if he does not, I dont really care. Give me a premiership (alright a farging finals appearance will do for now!) then I will be forever grateful to Kalyn, Paul Green and the Cowboys.

Rant over. Thanks.

He has been pegged as a star from the age of 14.

He likely would have played quite a bit of NRL in 2017 if he hadn't signed with the Knights in the pre-season and agitated for a release (Especially the claim that the Cowboys didn't care about his "welfare").

To offer a 19year old 700k+ would have completely f**ked our cap for years.

I've never begrudged the kid taking the $$. Good on him, When he is winning premierships with Broncos or Roosters in 5 years time, that's when I'll bag the guy.
 

mozza91

Coach
Messages
12,672
I reckon we’ll hold on to him or at least move heaven and earth tryong to. Our problem has always been getting the player here in the first place. Once they’re here they’re here they’re usually happy to stay.
 

Maroon4life

Juniors
Messages
1,647
Ponga won’t stay at Newcastle, has no connection to the place and it won’t be successful enough for him to hang around.
 

mozza91

Coach
Messages
12,672
Ponga won’t stay at Newcastle, has no connection to the place and it won’t be successful enough for him to hang around.
He loves the place. He seems a different type of character. Origin wasn’t a big deal to him, he openly stated that it wasn’t that hard.

I don’t think he’s a mercenary like the majority of footballers. Plus we’ll do just about anything to keep him.
 

Vic Mackey

Referee
Messages
24,496
He loves the place. He seems a different type of character. Origin wasn’t a big deal to him, he openly stated that it wasn’t that hard.

I don’t think he’s a mercenary like the majority of footballers. Plus we’ll do just about anything to keep him.

Not a mercenary? Mate lets be serious, he went to newcastle because they were probably double what anyone else offered.

He loves the place, what do you expect him to say? 'Yeah its a bit of shithole but will do for now i guess.' What recruit hasnt spoke in glowing terms about the club/city they've gone too?

None of this is a crack at him, he's a professional sportsmen doing/saying what they should.

Unless Newcastle become a Premiership threat in the next 2 years I'll be shocked if he hangs around. The Roosters and Broncos will come up with some ridiculous scenirio that gets him there for $400kpa less then the Knights are offering.

As an NRL fan i would hate this to happen but lets not pretend in all liklihood it wont.
 

mozza91

Coach
Messages
12,672
The Broncos aren’t really that much of a glamour club anymore. The aura of Wayne has faded and they have to pay good money if they want someone now. See Milford and Bird. So I don’t see them as a huge threat.
The Chooks are more of a threat but not everybody likes Sydney. Overpriced, shit traffic etc.
I honestly see a rival code as more of a worry than a rival club tbh.
 

Canard

Immortal
Messages
34,147
The Broncos aren’t really that much of a glamour club anymore. The aura of Wayne has faded and they have to pay good money if they want someone now. See Milford and Bird. So I don’t see them as a huge threat.
The Chooks are more of a threat but not everybody likes Sydney. Overpriced, shit traffic etc.
I honestly see a rival code as more of a worry than a rival club tbh.

Uncle Wayne won't be there by the time his contract is up.
 

blaza88z

Coach
Messages
15,065
Newcastle will be doing well to retain Ponga, especially if they can't come up with a team good enough to challenge for a premiership
 

9701

First Grade
Messages
5,398
Newcastle will be doing well to retain Ponga, especially if they can't come up with a team good enough to challenge for a premiership
But at least he played in a Knights team good enough to beat the Broncos this year :)
 

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
It’s actually a positive thing that Ponga hasn’t walked into a side that’s pushing for a premiership now. The kid is in his first year of FG and has already played Origin FFS. You want him having something to still work torwards and be hungry for because otherwise he has “I’ve achieved all I can in the game” Union/AFL convert written all over him.

He really seems to like Newcastle a lot though and has enrolled in uni there so he obviously has no plans on going anywhere for the next few years at the very least...and who knows where the Knights will be then. They improved a hell of a lot with just one season of purchases and the wheels only fell off due to injury. Who knows where they’ll be in 4 years time but as a fan I’m looking forward to watching them develop with Ponga.

I suppose it’s a salt thing everyone so quick to say he’ll leave the Knights but he’s under contract for 4 years so either way we get him for the most exciting part of his career.
 

perverse

Referee
Messages
25,828
Yeah, it's just weird how everyone is so keen to tell us he's going to leave every opportunity they get to mention it. He's with us for another 3 years at least, then who knows where our team is at. It's like no-one can fathom us being competitive ever again. We once thought that about Souths and the Sharks, too.

We're on a good trajectory at the moment despite results since Pearce's injury. Kalyn will continue to be a big part of that for a long while yet. Enjoy the show.
 

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,642
Yeah, it's just weird how everyone is so keen to tell us he's going to leave every opportunity they get to mention it. He's with us for another 3 years at least, then who knows where our team is at. It's like no-one can fathom us being competitive ever again. We once thought that about Souths and the Sharks, too.

We're on a good trajectory at the moment despite results since Pearce's injury. Kalyn will continue to be a big part of that for a long while yet. Enjoy the show.

I suppose the suggestions for Ponga leaving comes from him most likely demanding a bigger contract, topped by third party deals. Deals that I'm sure you yourself have said in the past that Newcastle have absolutely no chance of competing with.
 

Canard

Immortal
Messages
34,147
It’s actually a positive thing that Ponga hasn’t walked into a side that’s pushing for a premiership now. The kid is in his first year of FG and has already played Origin FFS.

Ponga's first year of first grade was 2016.
 

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