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Cleary v Ponga

McLovin

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
33,901
The second half once again belonged to Cleary. Down to 12 men in the clutch moments and he guides the team to a historic origin series victory. That try saver on Holmes.. my god.

Ponga was moved into the halves and struggled to cut the mustard in both attack and defence. Visibly gassed after a mere 10 tackles. I don't know how he managed 30, I guess his stamina and toughness is quite good. Ponga displayed a severe lack of awareness as he stuck his foot out and gifted NSW another set on the goal line. In the ensuing set, NSW score what would be the series sealing try in the corner.

On the biggest stage of his career so far, Ponga just showed minimal signs of being a big game player. Meanwhile, Cleary puts the state on his back while lifting the shield.. just another win in what could very well be the most illustrious career we will see.
 

Brutus

Referee
Messages
26,354
The second half once again belonged to Cleary. Down to 12 men in the clutch moments and he guides the team to a historic origin series victory. That try saver on Holmes.. my god.

Ponga was moved into the halves and struggled to cut the mustard in both attack and defence. Visibly gassed after a mere 10 tackles. I don't know how he managed 30, I guess his stamina and toughness is quite good. Ponga displayed a severe lack of awareness as he stuck his foot out and gifted NSW another set on the goal line. In the ensuing set, NSW score what would be the series sealing try in the corner.

On the biggest stage of his career so far, Ponga just showed minimal signs of being a big game player. Meanwhile, Cleary puts the state on his back while lifting the shield.. just another win in what could very well be the most illustrious career we will see.


Paul Vautin could fall asleep on the post-match coverage again. You should watch.
 

Dave_

Juniors
Messages
2,330
Ponga was freakish playing out of position in the forwards and found Origin to be "the same" as club footy after making more than triple his usual tackle count all in the middle and almost winning the game for the 2 heads.

He will likely be the best to ever lace a boot and is already the best player in the league.

Cleary was very solid in defence and is composed beyond his years but come on...... nothing and no one compares to Kayln Ponga. He's ridiculous
 

McLovin

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
33,901
Ponga was freakish playing out of position in the forwards and found Origin to be "the same" as club footy after making more than triple his usual tackle count all in the middle and almost winning the game for the 2 heads.

He will likely be the best to ever lace a boot and is already the best player in the league.

Cleary was very solid in defence and is composed beyond his years but come on...... nothing and no one compares to Kayln Ponga. He's ridiculous

Ponga can continue to "almost win games" while Cleary is busy actually winning them.
 

mozza91

Coach
Messages
14,138
Cleary did ok. That tackle was excellent and he was strong defensively all night.

Not a patch on Ponga though. He was Queensland’s go to man along with Munster and had some excellent touches. Defensively very solid especially considering he’s never defended in the middle before. Absolute freak.
 

mxlegend99

Referee
Messages
23,331
Ponga was just about the best player on ground tonight.

Cleary is undefeated in Origin. But f**k me QLD are in good hands with Ponga. He's scary good.

Cleary is great for his efforts that go unnoticed. He's by far the busiest player on the field. Ponga is the most destructive though. Every touch he had looked likely.
 

Burwood

Bench
Messages
4,988
Thurston paid tribute to the performance of five-eighth Cameron Munster in a beaten side.

“He took the line on tonight and a few passes that he lacked in Game 1 and finding the ball a bit more,” Thurston said.

“Certainly he is the future in the halves young Cameron and obviously with Billy Slater retiring this year from rep football there’s a fullback spot up for grabs that Valentine Holmes wants as well. There are a lot of options.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/st...t/news-story/710ff1673dca9630491f2955b409a598

Looks like Thurston is still hurt that Ponga left the club and decided to kill his career at Newcastle instead.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,865
Individually ponga was great but I thought he actually screwed the queensland structure when he came on. Too many cooks spoiling the broth. Munster looked far better when he was the go to half back, ponga got in the way a bit. It was a strange squad choice.
 

perverse

Referee
Messages
26,697
Individually ponga was great but I thought he actually screwed the queensland structure when he came on. Too many cooks spoiling the broth. Munster looked far better when he was the go to half back, ponga got in the way a bit. It was a strange squad choice.
Agreed, but that's hardly on him. He did better than I could have possibly imagined last night. There's nothing you can throw at this kid that he can't handle. It's incredible. His potential is frightening.
 

BennyV

Referee
Messages
24,004
Ponga was freakish playing out of position in the forwards and found Origin to be "the same" as club footy after making more than triple his usual tackle count all in the middle and almost winning the game for the 2 heads.

He will likely be the best to ever lace a boot and is already the best player in the league.

Cleary was very solid in defence and is composed beyond his years but come on...... nothing and no one compares to Kayln Ponga. He's ridiculous
He only way he could have been more of a boss is if he said 'I was annoyed that I had to break a sweat in order to notch a line break'.

Not a QLD or Knights fan but I love this kid. Roosters should be very excited about signing him in a few years.
 

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,726
Not a QLD or Knights fan but I love this kid. Roosters should be very excited about signing him in a few years.

Please. You know that he's going to be homesick for Brisbane (despite never living there) in a few years and want to play under a 73 year old Wayne Bennett at the Broncos, who probably won't even be coach there.
 

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,726
But seriously, the kid is a freak. He's one of those kids that was good at every sport growing up.

Looking at his Wiki page, he played League, Union, AFL, soccer, touch and golf. f**king golf! He won the NZ U/13 national golf championship ffs!

3 different sports tried signing him along with the Cowboys!

He's deadset taking the piss.
 

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