Ponga Appreciation Thread.

[HarVeeGee]

Would have a fair bit to do with the $$ he's on, at least from my point of view anyway. I couldn't give 2 shits if he's from Newcastle or not as I'm not a local myself.

Yeah it's a nice little extra when a kid from Cessnock or Maitland pops off, but definitely not the be all and end all. And also when the local kids aren't as good as we like it can go the other way, "why do these local spuds get priority over real talent". Cogger being a local doesn't stop a lot of us fans absolutely giving it to him and making it clear we wish we signed a talented 19 year old from Queensland or New Zealand or wherever instead if that was an option.

 

[HarVeeGee]

Yeah no I understand the argument from a technical standpoint as you've laid out. I don't fear for the clubs footballing future post-Kalyn today as I might have 12 months ago. I'm just surprised by the tone.

For me, I'm disappointed it hasn't worked out and would be quite sad if it all just fizzles out now. I'd like to see what he, Brown and Sharpe can do next year before putting a cork in it, but there really does seem to be some people not just open to, but eager to shove him out the door right now. So be it and everything, I'm just commenting that I think it's sad and if I were him reading socials, I might just come to the conclusion that the town is ambivilant at best about me and move on feeling kinda unwanted.

It is what it is I guess, I just find it interesting and a bit disappointing psychologically. His pay definitely has something to do with it, but he's done nothing more in that respect than every other player in the game - maximized his income.

Definitely a lot of us could stand to modulate what we say and remember these are human beings, playing a very very tough sport where they legit put their long term physical health on the line every time they go out there. Some of the stuff people say is pretty bloody harsh.

And I'm not exempting myself from that, I've said some shit when really in my feelings about how the team is going that I later wish I could take back.

Don't know if anyone saw the stuff that got sent to James Schiller a few weeks back, that really rattled me. I'm sure players are getting shitty DMs all the time. Rarely as bad as that I'm sure, but you can just imagine how players get deluged when they have a bad game or two.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Yeah no I understand the argument from a technical standpoint as you've laid out. I don't fear for the clubs footballing future post-Kalyn today as I might have 12 months ago. I'm just surprised by the tone.

For me, I'm disappointed it hasn't worked out and would be quite sad if it all just fizzles out now. I'd like to see what he, Brown and Sharpe can do next year before putting a cork in it, but there really does seem to be some people not just open to, but eager to shove him out the door right now. So be it and everything, I'm just commenting that I think it's sad and if I were him reading socials, I might just come to the conclusion that the town is ambivilant at best about me and move on feeling kinda unwanted.

It is what it is I guess, I just find it interesting and a bit disappointing psychologically. His pay definitely has something to do with it, but he's done nothing more in that respect than every other player in the game - maximized his income.

Sure, but RL fans and wider sports fans are pretty fickle and want success. If a big name player is under performing its pretty common to have their value questioned. LeBron has copped it at the Lakers, Messi at PSG, Hamilton at Ferrari, etc.

If fans could take the emotion out of venting such views then they probably wouldn't be fans to begin with I guess

 

[slotmachine]

but he's done nothing more in that respect than every other player in the game - maximized his income.

That's not really true, someone like Best took less than other clubs offered to stay at the Knights.

KP has definitely done us no favours at contract time.

 

[TooheysNew]

I suspect Kalyn's perceived indifference is also part of the reason some people are happy to not stand in his way if he chooses to leave.

You can say "if Ponga read what was said about him, he'd want to leave", but that perception goes the other way too.

 

[Burwood]

Best’s value was massively overinflated his first couple of contracts here when he couldn’t get on the field due to injuries. We paid rep money for a player who struggled to string together a handful of games at a time.

Ponga’s problem is that there are too many stretches of poor performances in between all his hot streaks.

Those slumps could be because of injuries, form or motivation, but it’s kind of irrelevant- it’s easy for fans to forget the good times.

 

[Yosh]

I'm torn on Ponga. I'm unhappy with the situation we are in but scared $hitless he is going to get over his injury issues and carry another side to 3 straight Premierships.

 

[Apey]

That's not really true, someone like Best took less than other clubs offered to stay at the Knights.

KP has definitely done us no favours at contract time.

Well it's an unpopular opinion because he's a gun but I'd say we're overpaying Best too for how much he gets on the field. 700k for a centre who must miss close to 10 games on average every year.

2020 - 11/21
2021 - 17/25
2022 - 14/24
2023 - 25/26
2024 - 17/25
2025 - 11/16

 

[Apey]

 

[slotmachine]

Well it's an unpopular opinion because he's a gun but I'd say we're overpaying Best too for how much he gets on the field. 700k for a centre who must miss close to 10 games on average every year.

I think it's a pretty fair deal but it's a fact he got offered more at the Tigers and took less to stay.

Ponga has never done that, even requiring all his contract to be under the cap with no third-party deals.

 

[Zoidberg]

Pretty unlucky to get this rare injury in both feet.
This season is just a train wreck injury wise for us.

 

[perverse]

Sure, but RL fans and wider sports fans are pretty fickle and want success. If a big name player is under performing its pretty common to have their value questioned. LeBron has copped it at the Lakers, Messi at PSG, Hamilton at Ferrari, etc.

If fans could take the emotion out of venting such views then they probably wouldn't be fans to begin with I guess

None of your examples spent their whole career in that place though. Merc fans didn't turn on Lewis as he declined (and, to be honest, F1 is barely analagous to a team sport anyway - many people support drivers, not teams), LeBron is a journeyman regardless of his skill even though he's been at the Lakers a while now and Messi spent the vast majority of his career at Barcelona.

I agree it's a results based business and again I think you're either missing or just talking past my point a little bit (not having a go, we're just not talking about the same thing precisely). I can sit here and see the logic behind looking to move Kalyn on. It's the happiness about it that I'm remarking on, not the mechanism itself. From a purely callous football perspective - we can afford to lose him now moreso in the past - although I'm not convinced it strengthens our squad without somewhere to spend it either. All of that is beside the point though.

As slots said, I think it just comes down to perception of his price and contract. As much as I love a bloke taking unders to stay at the club, it's not something I expect of any human in this capitalist hellscape we've arrived at in 2025. People clearly resent what the club agreed to pay him. It's not a factor for me, but I think it's at the root of it. Anyone thinking he should have been paid less than he could negotiate is living in the 90s mentally imo.

To me, looking at the situation as it is, I don't see why we wouldn't wait to see what happens next year before pulling the plug. It's certainly my preference. I don't want to kick the bloke out if it's not necessary, and I'm just not there at all yet. Maybe it goes well but he does take less to stay in that environment? Maybe he asks for too much and we can rightly tell him to take it else where. Who knows, a lot of water goes under a rugby league bridge in 12 months. I'm just not at a place where I prefer to kick him to the curb than to try and make it work with our other new weapons. If you can get KP firing with Sharpe and Brown then you're just laughing as an attacking force.

 

[Woody90]

I just think it's sad that this guy can go from being the only source of joy we've had in 2 decades to a discardable waste of resources in a single season in the eyes of so many.

It goes to show how much he's really been embraced by supporters, I suppose. Happy to ride the good stuff with him, but the daggers have come out fast. Not local enough for actual sentimental attachment I guess.

It's not even the "logic" behind letting him go that bothers me, it's the willingness many people have to pack his bags.

Ponga has long been my favourite player at the club. Not being from Newcastle myself I couldn’t care less where the players come from, and to be honest subconsciously I’m always a bit harder and more critical of the local players because there’s a huge percentage of Knights supporters, particularly on a certain FB page, that give the local players a free ride basically…as long as they’re from the Hunter and try hard they deserve a spot in the side, even if there’s an “import” that’s more talented and all that complete BS.

I don’t think people are “turning” on Ponga or wanting to discard him after a single season of poor form though. When he came to the club in 2018 everyone adored him. Not just for his talent but he was putting in every game and very keen to prove himself. There’s no denying though that there was a long period after that where we constantly had to wonder if the team and tbh rugby league in general were a priority for him, culminating in what I consider “rock bottom” for KP in 2022. People were off him by then and understandably. His concussion issues obviously were a wake up call for him and he came back completely committed to the game and the club for 2023 and 2024. Everyone LOVED the bloke again, despite logically him still probably being “poor value” in terms of him still being out for half of those seasons.

So I don’t think fans are suddenly off him now after one single season. If anything I think fans were probably pretty accepting and forgiving of KP. Fans of top clubs would have been screaming that he was a poor investment for the money he was receiving after the 2019-2022 period, not even accounting for the time out with injuries and head knocks. What’s personally disappointed me with KP this year is that after his commitment and great form in 2023 and 2024, I thought he’d matured and was now 100% committed…so to be back in 2025 wondering what we were for 4 seasons, when he’s now the captain, on more money, and can’t use the excuse of him being young anymore, it’s really disappointing. Players aren’t always going to be in good form, and injuries certainly don’t help, but there have been more times than not this year where he was nowhere to be seen. It’s the attitude part I struggle to support.

When he’s on I love watching the guy play, even if he has lost some agility, so it would still definitely be my preference for us to keep him. I definitely don’t want him pushed out, but I’m also not wanting the club to kill itself cap wise to keep him. I do think as a side we’d be more well balanced with Brown at 6, either Ponga OR Sharpe at FB and a genuine halfback, but I also can’t see us finding a halfback who’s better than what Ponga can still offer when he’s at his best. 2026 is probably the biggest year of his career and he and the club would all be best served waiting to see how he goes before talking anymore contracts.

 

[Knight Tales]

It is a shame KP shows no evidence of being a 7 cos that would fix our problems as far as the re-shuffle of the spine. Put the other two, Brown and Sharpe, in their true positions.