Kalyn Ponga is the Dolphins’ golden goose. And they’re prepared to play the waiting game.
Publicly, the newest NRL franchise aren’t saying much when it comes to luring Ponga north but privately, they want the Queensland fullback to become their marquee man.
Having signed Origin edge Felise Kaufusi and fringe Parramatta forward/hooker Ray Stone, the club has also secured teenage trio Harrison Graham, Valynce Te Whare and Michael Roberts.
But the Newcastle No.1 remains their prime target.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
“I have had one conversation with him but that is it,” Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said this week.
“I had never met Kalyn before, so I just needed to talk to him.
“We are a long way from making a deal with him. He is committed to Newcastle right now, so we will see how it goes.”
It’s been well reported that Ponga has a clause on his Knights deal that would allow him to exit the red and blue early, should he wish to do so despite having a deal in place until 2024.
As the 2022 season heats up, this will become one of the biggest stories of the year.
Munster opens up
Melbourne star Cameron Munster has been training like a manic while away from the Storm in a bid to ensure 2022 is a success.
He’s dropped weight having engaged a personal trainer while in rehab and training every day for the past nine weeks.
“I’ve lost about five or six kilos,” he revealed. “I’m in the 80s again… I’m really enjoying how I’m feeling and what I’m eating.”
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The 27-year-old was handed a suspended $100,000 fine and ban following an off-field incident at the end of the 2021 season, which prompted him to go to rehab.
Now, Munster has opened up on his battle with alcohol and his oath to not drink for the next 12 months.
“It’s going to be tough with events and everything we do around the Storm,” Munster told the club media.
“In saying that, it’s a thing for me I need to be better with and try to show mental strength.
“I’ve found ways in rehab where I know I can enjoy myself and don’t need alcohol to enjoy myself.
“I’m feeling really ready to go and play well next year.”
Tigers halves locked in
New recruit Jackson Hastings has spent the pre-season training at five-eighth and is expected to secure the role of halves partner to Luke Brooks in 2022.
What the Wests Tigers will do in the halves has been hotly discussed following the signing of Hastings, Tyrone Peachey and establishment of Adam Doueihi but Hastings has appeared to win the role.
(Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images)
Doueihi is currently recovering from an ACL injury but is ahead of schedule.
The Tigers are publicly saying Round 10 is the targeted return date but it could be a tad sooner if things keep progressing the way they are.
It’s expected Peachey will start the year in the No.14 role.
Titans join forces
It’s something seldom done these days, but the Titans held a combined training session this week where their NRL squad and future Titans squads joined forces.
The whole club training session allowed emerging players to get a taste of what it’s like to train with top-tier talent.
It’s a nice introduction for the future stars to get familiar with the first graders and will help make the transition from under-21s to Queensland Cup and NRL smoother.
The great Red V wrestle trainer
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has started coaching St George Illawarra’s NRL side in wrestling.
Training out of Freestyle Fighting Australia gym where Volkanovski prepares himself to do battle in the octagon, Volkanovski has been taking the first-grade squad through wrestling techniques and holds in a bid to win the ruck.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
i didn't write that, don't u dislike it when your comments get altered!
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
Succhi
Roar Rookie
Jury is still out for me on Ponga. Would need a red hot season in 2022 to get close to worth $1m. Dolphins will get a decent team together by mid 2022. There will be disgruntled players, boom rookies and salary cap issues that will play out and we know contracts mean nothing.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
I think this will naturally happen. Clubs are currently signing players for 2023, which is just begging for cold feet scenarios. But when the silly signing season settles down and the Dolphins are the only ones actively recruiting we will start to see more signings. They have Wayne Bennett, who is safely the best coach in the game, and there is plenty of time. I dare say some Aussies and Kiwis will return from Super League. I have to wonder if the great Greg Inglis would make a comeback, even though that sounds nuts, the real champions can do it. Corey Norman just retired, but you have to wonder if that will last.
Tony
Roar Guru
Great stuff Phil. One of my favourites was Brute Bernard :happy:
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
Warren Ryan used to get wrestling coaches in when he was coaching Canterbury and Balmain, so a bit more than 30 years. Having said that, as long as refs keep letting players wrestle and inconsistently interpret whatever the rules are that given week, clubs will keep looking for a competitive edge by fouling up the ruck.
Phil
Roar Rookie
The sleeper hold!!! That was Mark Lewin's match winner back in the days of the highly credible World Championship Wrestling. Just think how good some of those "wrestlers" would have been playing RL. Killer Kowalski, Spiros Arion, Skull Murphy and the original Italian stallion, Dominic de Nucci. Craig Bellamy would have employed the lot of them to slow down the ruck. I almost forgot Australia's own golden boy, Larry O'Dea.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Judging Munster on his 2021 form, he really had to have a red-hot look at his lifestyle. The punt, drinking and drugs are a slippery slope and at age 28, time is ticking. Being a $1m player, if there isn’t a serious correction in attitude, you would think Bellamy and the Storm would be quick to pull the trigger. Keen to see what a massive off season and a year of the grog does for Munster. Just on the Dolphins, what is the contingency plan if they aren’t able to build a competitive roster? The feeling was that once the calendar struck November 1, the Dolphins were going to roll out a raft of big name signings. Almost seven weeks later, the expected flood of signings never eventuated with just Valynce Te Whare, Ray Stone and Felise Kaufusi on the books. Significantly, many a manager has used the threat of the Dolphins to upgrade a whole bunch of quality players coming off contract with their existing clubs. The Dolphins are swimming in an ever shrinking talent pool and maybe move than a few of their Q Cup players will find themselves in the NRL in 2023.
Danielle Smith
Editor
Someone better tell them ‘The Spear’ is not legal in league.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
It was to be Doueihi 6, Brooks 7, Hastings 13 With Doueihi out it will probably be Hastings 6, Brooks 7, Peachey 13
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Reynolds from Redfern reportedly making stacks from the corporates off field, boggling to think what they’d be prepared to shell out for the most marketable clean skin face in the state. Reece Walsh could be upper. He’s going to need SJ to stay fit, but there’s a bit of RTS in him that Johnson can help with.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Dean Young wasn't too bad either.
Nat
Roar Guru
I think Maguire has already said Peach will be playing that #14 ball playing role. Similar I guess to what he was doing at the Titans. I really don't know what to expect from Hastings. By all reports he was one of the better halves in the UK but this isn't the strongest squad he's coming in to unlike the Devils and Wigan. Don't know about lock as such, Radley and Murray have set a new standard but they are good forwards first. It's a fair risk to put a smaller, average defender in the middle. Maybe Doueihi could do it, he is a bigger body and good hands. He's about as fast as a prop. :happy:
Greg
Roar Pro
2 of the best rugby league wrestlers Ive seen were Dragons, Barnhill and Cooper.
Greg
Roar Pro
Think they will be opposite sides (both left)
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Nice summary. I'm curious - you don't think Tiges will play Peachy at 13? Ball playing 13 seems to be crucial in the current game - and they could stop rotating front rowers through lock. Or is Hastings is earmarked for that role once Doueihi returns?
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
To be fair, Volk is more of a striker :silly:
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha… welcome to the NRL…
Nat
Roar Guru
Not only JT13 but Holmes as well. I reckon the bidding will start there. If he has a real break out season, Turbo-esk (but not), he could be looking at $1.5m. He and Latrell are the only upper echelon FBs coming up around that time.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to checking out Oliver Gildart, got Olam first up.