Kalyn Ponga

Kalyn Ponga
Personal information
Nickname KP[1]
Born (1998-03-30) 30 March 1998
Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position Fullback, Five-eighth, Wing

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– North Queensland 8 3 0 0 12
2018 Newcastle Knights 0 0 0 0 0
Total 8 3 0 0 12
As of 27 September 2016
Source: [2][3]

Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is an Australian/New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the North Queensland Cowboys of the National Rugby League. He plays at fullback and five-eighth. He is signed on with the Newcastle Knights from the start of the 2018 season.

Background

Born in Port Hedland, Western Australia, Ponga is of Māori descent through his New Zealand-born father, Andre.[4] He lived with his family in Mount Isa, Queensland as a child before moving to Palmerston North, New Zealand in 2006, spending five years there, where he played a number of sports, including rugby league, touch football, hockey, rugby union, golf, and soccer. In 2010, he won New Zealand's under-13 national golf championship.[5]

In 2011, Ponga and his family returned to Australia, settling in Mackay, where he attended Mackay State High School, where he was a member of the Rugby League Academy program, and played junior rugby league for Souths Mackay. Also in 2011, he was signed to a scholarship with the Central Queensland NRL bid side. In 2012, he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side, becoming just the second 14-year old to make the side.[5]

In 2013, Ponga, then a scholarship holder with the Brisbane Broncos, moved to Brisbane. He attended Anglican Church Grammar School and played for the Easts Tigers in the Cyril Connell Cup. That year he made the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side for the second consecutive year.[6][7]

In December 2013, Ponga signed a contract with the North Queensland Cowboys. He was pursued by six professional clubs from across three different sports, turning down the Broncos, Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, Queensland Reds and Brisbane Lions to sign with the Townsville-based NRL club.[5][8]

Playing career

2015

Ponga moved to Townsville where he attended Ignatius Park College, played for the Townsville Stingers in the Mal Meninga Cup and represented Australia in touch football at the 2015 Youth Trans Tasman series.[9] In January, he was a member of the QAS Emerging under-18 Origin squad.[10] In August, he made his NYC debut for the Cowboys, coming off the bench in his side's 50-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels in Round 20. It was later revealed that he had missed five months of the season fighting a life-threatening brain infection.[11] He finished the year as the Cowboys' starting fullback, scoring 8 tries in 8 games. In October, he was invited to train with the New Zealand national team in preparation for their tour of Great Britain. In November, he joined the Cowboys' 2016 first grade squad for pre-season training.[1]

2016

In January, Ponga was selected in the QAS under-20's Origin squad.[12] In February, he played in the Cowboys' first-grade side's trial game against the Broncos, scoring a try. In May, Ponga was selected for the Junior Kangaroos and Junior Kiwis but opted not to play.[4][13] He spent the majority of the season playing for the Cowboys' NYC and was named at fullback in the NYC Team of the Year.[14]

On 16 September, Ponga made his NRL debut on the wing against the Brisbane Broncos in the finals, replacing the injured Antonio Winterstein.[15] Since 1987, he is just the sixth player to make his first-grade debut in a finals match.[16] He is contracted to the Cowboys until the end of 2017.[17]

In November, it was reported that Ponga had signed a contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2018. On 17 November, when North Queensland returned to pre-season training, head coach Paul Green confirmed the reports and his disappointment saying the contract was in the cooling off period.[18] The deal was officially announced on 28 November as a four-year contract starting in 2018. It was reported that the deal will make him the highest paid teenager in the history of the NRL.[19]

2017

Ponga was named in North Queensland's squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines tournament in February. At the event, he led North Queensland to a quarterfinals berth before being eliminated by the Storm. He scored five tries and was named in the team of the tournament alongside teammate Gideon Gela-Mosby.[20] Ponga played his first NRL game at fullback for the Cowboys in Round 3. During the game, he recorded two line break assists, seven tackle breaks and 113 running metres in their 8-30 loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.[21] He scored his maiden NRL try in the Cowboys' Round 4 victory over the Gold Coast Titans.[22] He was named man of the match in the Cowboys round 8 victory against the Newcastle Knights after scoring two tries.[23]

Achievements and accolades

Individual

NYC Team of the Year: 2016

Statistics

NRL

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2017 North Queensland 7 2 0 — 0 8
Career totals 2 — 4

References

  1. 1 2 Webeck, Tony (28 January 2016). "Whiz kid's NRL dream on hold". NRL.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Kalyn Ponga - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1998-03-30. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  3. ↑ "Kalyn Ponga". cowboys.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 Meyn, Travis (3 May 2016). "Ponga eligibility war takes shock twist". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "A video of Qld schoolboy prodigy Kalyn Ponga has become an online sensation". Fox Sports. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "2012 - 15 Years Darwin - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportsTG. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "2013 - 15 Years Canberra - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportsTG. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  8. ↑ Garry, Chris (1 January 2014). "North Queensland Cowboys sign most talented 15-year-old in Australia - Kalyn Ponga". Courier Mail. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ignatius Park College Newsletter" (PDF). Ignatius Park College. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Queensland Emerging Under 18 Squad 2015" (PDF). QRL.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Garry, Chris (3 August 2015). "Kalyn Ponga makes debut for Cowboys under-20s after overcoming life-threatening brain infection". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Broncos young guns dominate QAS U20s". QRL.com.au. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Ponga looms as Cowboys saviour". ESPN. September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "2016 Holden Cup Team of the Year announced". NRL.com. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "NYC team list: Cowboys v Tigers". cowboys.com.au. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  16. ↑ Hooper, James (16 September 2016). "North Queensland Cowboys take huge gamble on Kalyn Ponga to make debut in semi-final". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  17. ↑ Garry, Chris; Badel, Peter (7 May 2016). "Cowboys in danger of losing Kalyn Ponga after he formally rejects contract offer". Courier Mail. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  18. ↑ Zero Tackle (2016-11-01). "Cowboys coach confirms Kalyn Ponga will join Knights". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  19. ↑ NewcastleKnights.com.au. "Newcastle Knights secure Kalyn Ponga from 2018". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  20. ↑ "Home | Live Scores & Latest News". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  21. ↑ "NRL Match Centre 2017". Matchcentre.nrl.com. 2016-12-18. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  22. ↑ "NRL 2017 - Round 4". Rugby League Project. 2017-03-25. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  23. ↑ NRL Digital Media. "Post-match: Kalyn Ponga". Cowboys. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
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