Ponga Appreciation Thread.

[macavity]

I know that an underpowered Knights beat an underpowered Panthers last night, however the question needs to be asked that is the team more coherent, and can it be a better team without KP?

I think what last night indicated is:

- We have some great young kids coming through, and does KP’s large salary stop us from keeping them as they come through? Fletcher Hunt is going to be a really good player, but where does he fit in to the future? Where does kids like Connor Votano fit in the next few years when they are ready?

- We really lack some depth in the forwards in the second half which halts our momentum until the starters come back on. Is KP’s money better off spent on that depth rather than paying him more?

- Is KP really the playmaker that we need? Fletcher Sharpe looked great at fullback last night, the halves looked more fluid and effective than at any point over the year. Does those guys doing what KP wants them to do actually stifle them? Are they better off without him?

If he wants to go elsewhere, I tend to think we need the courage to tell him he is free to go. I know it sounds absurd for a team who could end up with the spoon to tell their best player they are free to leave, but is he our best player?

I honestly reckon Fletch can transition to 7 and run the team. Just needs to have a voice, he has the rest.

 

[Knight Tales]

Other clubs would be rolling on the floor at the fact we are contemplating moving Fletcher back to the halves. We win a game and show more direct footy,
And we go right back to where we are struggling. Cos all the club knows is fear of losing him. It is embarrassing now,

 

[Alex28]

Other clubs would be rolling on the floor at the fact we are contemplating moving Fletcher back to the halves. We win a game and show more direct footy,
And we go right back to where we are struggling. Cos all the club knows is fear of losing him. It is embarrassing now,

That’s the thing, right? If Fletch stays at 1, what do we do with KP?

 

[Old dog]

We are very strong at 1, Ponga, Sharpe, Votano, Hunt, unfortunately not. 7 amongst them

 

[Woody90]

Realistically you’re not going to go close to premiership territory unless you have at least 2 quality players or “stars” in your spine. I’m prepared to say Sharpe is there to be honest. I was initially hesitate to say that too soon given how inexperienced he is, but it’s clear to see. We move on Ponga though and can’t sign a quality halfback and we end up in the same situation as we are now with Ponga where oppositions know all they have to do is shut down Sharpe and you shut down the Knights. So yeah I wouldn’t be fast to move Ponga on unless we came into a situation where we had an opportunity to sign a quality halfback to replace him.

Then the unknown is obviously Brown. We have no idea yet if he’ll fit in and keep developing into a great player or he’ll be a dud. I’d prefer though to have both Sharpe and Ponga in the side to keep the opposition guessing and then if Brown comes on we have 3 threats, rather than getting rid of KP, Brown’s a bust and then Sharpe is our only threat.

I definitely agree in a perfect world we’d be more balanced with a halfback in place of either Ponga or Sharpe so then Brown can play 6, but they’re just few and far in between.

I do think it was a good idea to move Sharpe back to fullback for last nights game though. He’s been doing a decent job playing in an unfamiliar position but it must have been great for his confidence to go back to his familiar position and kill it.

 

[Old dog]

It is likely that we will have Ponga, Sharp and Brown at 1, 6 & 7 for 2026 and time will tell if that works out but the crunch is 7, will Brown be Ok, will combination with Sharpe work. Like to see us get a 7 to play Cup with the potential to play 1sts with development.
At least then the spine can be reshuffled with maybe Brown to 6 and Sharpe to wing, or Ponga moves on and Sharpe to f/b
We need a 7 to be developed as a ready replacement even if just for injuries.
Hastings will be gone but we need to look beyond Cogger and Gamble
yes we still will need a prop or two

 

[perverse]

Still not giving up on Kalyn. I want him and Sharpe in the same team to work. Too many people willing to throw him under the bus for the latest shiny toy.

 

[Rod]

We shouldn't forget he's also clearly playing injured.

 

[Yosh]

Loved how he wanted the ball when the game was on the line.

 

[Apey]

Its clear he's just well out of form this year for whatever reason. Injuries maybe. You can tell he's been putting in for a while now after a couple of games where he phoned it in, but not much of it is coming off. Throwing some real dud passes in particular.

 

[Yosh]

His try won us the game but his effort to charge down Brooks probably kept us in it as well. Hopefully he finds some confidence and goes on a run like 2 years ago.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Its clear he's just well out of form this year for whatever reason. Injuries maybe. You can tell he's been putting in for a while now after a couple of games where he phoned it in, but not much of it is coming off. Throwing some real dud passes in particular.

Having several rib injuries in the past myself I can say that it effects stuff like your passing more than anything else outside of direct contact.

 

[TooheysNew]

Having several rib injuries in the past myself I can say that it effects stuff like your passing more than anything else outside of direct contact.

I've been there too. It can effect everything, because it can make even breathing difficult.

 

[HarVeeGee]

I've got a mate who's a physio and he says it's a huge effort for Kalyn to be on the field with that deltoid injury too, usually when people have it he says they struggle to bear weight on it. So he's probably just rehabbing all week and playing with painkillers. Hats off to him, a great effort.

What shits me though is there actually were, finally, some major tweaks to the attack... in ROUND 14. Half the season gone.

Kalyn was overwhelmingly playing as a Luai style five-eighth & the second banana marshalling a wide left edge, Cogger as a 7 through the middle third mostly, Sharpe in a fullback like role playing mainly down the right, focusing more on just playing instinctively with time and space and looking for second phase off the back of Gagai & Kai... and it's the best we've looked with the ball all year. Despite AOB insisting, over and over again, if we just send Kalyn down the side where he's most dangerous as much as possible he'll be "too predictable". Damn if playing to your best attacking player in their best spots a lot is bad I bet Cody Walker has never in his life set up a single try for Alex Johnston!

AOB: Always jumping at shadows and trying to "evolve" Kalyn's game into some imaginary fullback version of Johns or Thurston. Thinking ahead to a possible future nightmare where some team "figures us out" and head it off before it arrives... instead of getting an effective attack going ASAP and then making tweaks as needed.

But now his job is on the line again and it's Kalyn attacking the tramlines constantly, again. Again. Every season! Every f**king season we do this!

Kalyn is 27 YEARS OLD. This is what he is. He's not going to turn into something else. If he's going to stay a part of this club long term, we need to play to his strengths. If it stops working and you need to tweak some things, at least then your team might be "up" and playing with confidence due to the points they've already scored over the season! And that makes the tweaks more likely to be effective.

 

[perverse]

Kalyn was overwhelmingly playing as a Luai style five-eighth & the second banana marshalling a wide left edge, Cogger as a 7 through the middle third mostly, Sharpe in a fullback like role playing mainly down the right, focusing more on just playing instinctively with time and space and looking for second phase off the back of Gagai & Kai... and it's the best we've looked with the ball all year.

This can't be true. I was recently informed that it would be far too hard to play KP as 5/8 in attack and fullback in D when I floated it recently.

Wasn't given a reason why it was too hard, mind you. I agree, it's the setup that works best for us right now. Play them to their strengths, on either side of the ball. Sharpe can handle the work in D, where Kalyn cannot (and really should not with his concussion history).

 

[HarVeeGee]

The key thing is that Kalyn as the dominant playmaker/organiser, halfback in attack, trying to play through the middle third heaps and steer the team around while preserving his own attacking impact... that looks horrible. It's not him.

Playing as a Luke Keary style player in attack, raiding those wide channels, attacking shortsides, that's more conceivable.

Which means Dylan Brown *has to* play halfback, and I mean like a true #7, the main organiser, mostly playing centrally. That's where you would argue it falls apart. But I back Brown taking on that role, as a guy who's a career specialist half at least and for whom playing straight and creating space is a key strength, and being successful at it, more than I do KP.