They can be my wingmen anytime: Ponga pins faith in flyers

The bye in the final round may well have denied Newcastle flyers Greg Marzhew and Dominic Young the chance to claim the crown as the NRL's best wingmen.

Heading into Round 27 and the Knights pair had 44 tries between them – 24 to Marzhew and 20 to Young. 

Right on their tail were Penrith’s Tom Jenkins and Brian To’o with a combined tally of 42. 

But while the Knights had their feet up during a bye, To’o scored the first of the Panthers' seven tries against Wests Tigers and Jenkins bagged a double giving them 45 for the season.

On Friday the Knights wingmen oppose another two prolific finishers in South Sydney’s Alex Johnston (30 tries) and Campbell Graham (13) in the elimination final at Allianz Stadium. 

Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga is backing his dynamic duo to outscore the Rabbitohs and is staggered by the finishing power of Marzhew and Young. 

“It’s crazy. And that’s not just for the tries but the work they do out of our backfield,” Ponga told NRL.com. 

“Some of the carries they take I’d hate to take but they just do it – charge head-on – without us asking them to do all that. 

“I know they just love it because they know what an important part good wingers can play in a team.” 

Young leads the NRL in half-breaks (17) ahead of Roosters centre Robert Toia (12) and who can forget Marzhew’s five-try haul against the Dragons in Round 10 – the most of any player this year. 

Having endured grand final defeats in the 2017 Holden Cup U20s decider with Parramatta and the 2019 NSW Cup grand final with Wentworthville Magpies, Marzhew would love nothing better than to stand on top of the podium come October 4.

Young was part of the England side that suffered a heartbreaking 27-26 loss to Samoa in the World Cup semi-final in 2022 and played in the Roosters side that was blown away by the Storm in a preliminary final in 2024.

Ponga said the pair had earned the respect of their teammates for their individual skills and would play a leading role in the club's push for a first premiership since 2001.

“They are both special in their own right,” he said. 

“Dom has incredible speed and then Greg has incredible strength. They are different body shapes but they have that same great anticipation. 

“They’ve even got a little battle going on between them just to keep things nice and competitive – what is it about wingers trying to out-score each other? 

“But they’ve put a lot of work in – both of them – it just doesn’t happen to be that solid in such small spaces at times down the touchline.” 

Both players celebrated their 100-game milestones this year – Marzhew is now on 110 NRL games and Young 115 – but it's a premiership they crave and that quest begins at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.