'Just one game': Ponga eyes bigger picture after match-winning effort

Kalyn Ponga concedes he has struggled for consistency for several years and is a long way from convincing himself, or his critics, that he feels comfortable with his switch from fullback to five-eighth.

Ponga played down his match-winning magic post-match on Sunday, in which he scored a try and created three more for teammates Tyson Frizell, former Titan Greg Marzhew and Bradman Best.

Ponga ran for 175 metres, including his 65-metre dash to score in the 62nd minute as part of a 15-minute blitz in which the Knights ran in four tries to turn an 18-12 deficit into a 34-18 lead.

It was Ponga’s first appearance on home soil in 10 months, only his fifth game anywhere since a series of concussions prematurely ended his 2022 campaign last July.

The 25-year-old superstar told reporters he felt more relieved than anything else and that it was a positive response to his self-confessed shocker in Newcastle’s 43-12 loss to Parramatta on April 28.

“To play at home like that off the back of probably the last seven or eight months, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses probably the last eight months,” Ponga said.

“But to come back home and put a performance like that in front of the crowd that I haven’t played in front of for a long time, to be honest, I am happy, but like ‘Adzy’ (O’Brien) said, that’s just one performance.

“I need to back it up and be consistent, and that’s something I need to do for the rest of the year, and probably something that I haven’t done for a couple of years now, so it’s just one performance.

“I’m still learning the position of six, I’m still learning and that was probably only my second full game there, and I know this is going to be a learning process.

“But today I just focused on playing my game, what makes me tick, and where do I like to be and those sort of things. Obviously, first and foremost was my defence. I wanted to get that right off the back of last game, but I just sort of focused on what I like to do, I guess.”

O’Brien did not expect Ponga’s performance to silence his or his captain’s critics, who have suggested the 25-year-old needs to return to fullback on a permanent basis.

“No, because we’re only one game away from them being loud again,” O’Brien said.

“But I thought when he hit the go button in the second half for us, he showed he’s elite.

“As I said at the start, it was way too premature for people to comment given the sample size [of games he has played at five-eighth] this year, and I think he gave us a snippet of it, but he knows he’s got to work hard again next week and replicate it.”

After his well-documented concussion issues ended his 2022 season early, Ponga’s NRL career looked in jeopardy when he was knocked out against Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on March 12.

He spent another six weeks on the sidelines, flew to Canada for further tests, and looked tentative and anything but his usual confident self in his first games back against the Cowboys and Eels.

His performance against Parramatta, in which he was targeted by the Eels’ forwards and missed eight tackles on Newcastle’s left edge, gave him headaches of a different kind.

I guess after last week I had a few days where I wasn’t too happy, but it was lessons, and I said that to myself, and I said that to people I was talking to

Kalyn Ponga

“Off that game, you learn so much, as long as you’re willing to apply it and work on it, and I think I did that this week.”

As for comments from the likes of Andrew Johns, Cameron Smith and Brad Fittler about what position he should play, Ponga acknowledged “that they’ve got an opinion”, but so does he.

“I think that’s important – I can’t just ignore it – but I know where I want to be and what I want to do with my career, I guess,” he explained.

“I want to be in the game a lot more, and I feel like at six you can be that. Whether it’s good or bad, I guess last week [against Parramatta] I was negatively impacting the team and that’s why I worked so hard to be good this week."

Ponga will again start at five-eighth for Newcastle against Cronulla at Coffs Harbour next Saturday but his return to form against the Titans would suggest he could be back in the No.1 jersey for Queensland for the first game of this year’s State of Origin series in Adelaide on May 31.

In the seventh game of an Origin career that began as a 20-year-old in 2018, Ponga was man of the match in Queensland’s 22-12 series-clinching victory in the decider at Suncorp Stadium last July after playing all three matches at fullback.

Reece Walsh’s form for the Broncos this season, and Ponga’s struggles have generated speculation he could lose his spot to the Brisbane prodigy, but he is not looking any further than Newcastle’s next game against the Sharks.

“Off the back of the performance against Parra, I just wanted to perform good today. I think ‘Adzy’ has been spot-on with his comments, it’s just one game, and I need to back it up,” Ponga said.

“I can’t worry about Queensland selections or anything like that. For me, the focus is on recovery and training well for next week.

“Obviously it’s a prestigious honour to represent Queensland, and if I get to do it again, I’ll be privileged and honoured and humbled, but I can’t worry about selection – I’ve got to worry about my performances.”