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Kalyn Ponga is perhaps the most exciting young player in the NRL, but it wouldn’t be fair to say he has been a revelation in 2018.
Revelation implies that his performances have been unexpected.
Though only the most fervent of Knights fans could truthfully say they anticipated the 20-year-old would be this good this early – taking a few months to find his feet would have been acceptable, but the kid’s been on fire since Round 1 – Ponga showed during his time at North Queensland what a dynamic talent he was.
Which leads me to ponder a question about the Cowboys’ 2017 season.
Might they have won the grand final if Ponga hadn’t spent most of the year languishing in the club’s under-20s program?
After the Knights made their successful multimillion-dollar play for the then 18-year-old at the end of 2016, Paul Green said he was “disappointed” but that an early release for Ponga was out of the question.
“Kalyn’s contracted to us for next year, he’s part of our plans for next year and as such he’s expected to play for us,” the North Queensland coach said.
“This is the competitive nature of the industry that we’re part of, so I’m going to pick the best team possible and if Kalyn’s part of that then he’ll be in the team, simple as that.”
After scoring five tries and being named in the team of the tournament at the 2017 Auckland Nines, it appeared Green had made the right call keeping the young gun around for the extra season.
(Tony Feder/Getty Images)
However, it wasn’t until Round 3 that Ponga actually got a crack in first grade, taking the place of the injured Lachlan Coote.
He received an extended stay in the top flight over the coming weeks, culminating in a two-try, man-of-the-match performance against none other than Newcastle, in Round 8.
A fortnight later the teenager was back on the outer, Coote having returned from injury – although this was also the week Ray Thompson was asked to step into the injured Johnathan Thurston’s enormous boots.
No disrespect intended to Thompson, who was a wonderful clubman for the Cowboys, but even this early on in KP’s career it was clear who of the pair was more likely to win you a game of footy. Was it so insane to try the youngster at five-eighth or keep him at the back and move the experienced Coote into the halves?
Apparently so, because Ponga was effectively sent packing back to the National Youth Competition, where he ended up being named at fullback in the team of the year for the second season in a row.
He did get one more game in first grade, although went off with an injured shoulder shortly after halftime in the Round 24 loss to the Sharks – Green appearing unimpressed with the youngster for failing to finish the game.
In total Ponga played seven matches for the Cowboys in 2017 for a return of three tries, ten line breaks and 38 tackle breaks while running for an average of 126 metres per game.
Compare that to his numbers in Newcastle this year, where in 13 games he’s scored three tries, made seven line breaks and 98 tackle breaks and run an average of 145 metres per game.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Not quite as good, but certainly comparable – and heading into Round 14, Ponga leads this year’s Dally M Medal count.
Apparently Green decided he didn’t need that bloke to play, even when the coach had an injury toll on his hands that made his team’s grand final appearance more miracle than fairytale.
Obviously there were issues in the forwards that Ponga couldn’t have covered, but it was more than just JT who missed big time – or, perhaps more importantly, played injured, as Green revealed after the grand final.
“Kyle Feldt tore his groin last week, Te Maire Martin should’ve been out for four to six weeks with a grade two medial but only missed one game, Coote’s calf,” Green said.
“There were probably four guys in that Tigers (Round 25) game that probably shouldn’t have come back.”
Now, there’s no taking away what a fantastic effort it was for North Queensland to make the big dance, but the knock on them throughout the finals was how exhausted they looked come full-time of all those unexpected wins.
Maybe that’s because half their backline apparently had no business playing.
And all the while the brightest prospect in the NRL was carving up the under-20s, having been back playing just a fortnight after his injury against Cronulla.
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Now, I’m not necessarily saying Ponga should have been part of the matchday 17 to face Melbourne in the grand final, but why the hell wouldn’t you pick him to give some of your players a break in regular-season matches if they were all so busted?
It lends credence to the suggestion – made by Kalyn’s dad, Andre Ponga, a few weeks after his son had signed with the Knights – that relations with the Cowboys had gone “pear-shaped when we didn’t accept an offer”.
But it also smacks of pettiness. North Queensland refused to release Ponga on the basis they would use him but instead had him play the majority of the season in a competition that offered him little challenge and the club little benefit.
And it’s not as though he was going to a team that threatened to unseat the Cowboys in the top eight, the Knights having been broadly and accurately tipped to finish with a third consecutive wooden spoon in 2017.
Ultimately, of course, we’ll never know what could have been for North Queensland if they’d given Kalyn Ponga an extended run in first grade last season.
But he’s a player who makes your side better – and the team that comes second only needs to improve by one spot.
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