'He really wants to be involved': Brave Ponga racing the clock

Kalyn Ponga played for 20 minutes with a suspected broken arm that may now render his race to be fit for the World Cup final a narrative almost as magnetic as his epic and unforgettable duel with Reece Walsh.

In his first match for New Zealand since eligibility rules allowed it, the Newcastle fullback engaged in one of team sport’s most outlandish individual shootouts, scoring two tries to the one of Australia’s Walsh - who also pulled off a try-saving tackle on his opposite number in the tournament opening 24-22 win by the green and golds.

Ponga’s arrival in international rugby league was every bit as mesmeric as that of Walsh at Wembley last year - so much so that his coach Stacey Jones and captain James Fisher-Harris struggled to get past their awe of him even as they pondered being without him.

“Kalyn, we’re not too sure yet - it’s a possible fracture of the arm,” said Jones, who characterised his own reaction to his custodian's display as “what a freak!”

'“He’s going to go for scans and we’re not going to make any call right now on where he’s at - but he had a pretty good game.”

The 28-year-old Ponga appeared to injure his left forearm when it accidentally made contact with an opponent’s head in the 51st minute of the Allianz Stadium epic, watched by the biggest Sydney Test crowd in more than half a century.

That was five minutes after his try which broke a 10-10 halftime deficit.

“I think it was 20 minutes he carried on, he toughed it out and … yeah … tough one," said Jones.

In fact, before Ponga was replaced in the 70th minute, he managed another try when he pulled the Australian defence’s pants down before running the final 20 metres with his own shorts at half mast.

“I think he even palmed them off with his bad arm,” remarked the man who replaced him, Keano Kini.

In the Kiwis rooms, those of the periphery of the team were saying that Cronulla and Australia rake Blayke Brailey returned to active duty just three weeks after suffering a broken arm in Origin I. Even if the arm is broken, he'll be fit by November 15, they said.

“They had scored a try and that’s when we were told what it possibly was and that he had to come off,” said Jones. “He couldn’t catch a ball or anything like that.

“He was in a bit of discomfort … a lot of discomfort.”

Captain James Fisher-Harris remarked: “He’s a tough bugger, eh? He’s obviously got a lot of pride in the black and white jersey. He didn’t want to let his team-mates down.

“Like Stacey said, I thought he did an outstanding job. He’s just a freakish player but he’s also one of those tough players.

“I’m feeling for him now but hopefully he’s OK, it’s not too bad.”

There was no ambulance or hospital for the Knights grand final star. He changed at the same time as his team-mates before joining family, telling reporters when approached for a comment more than an hour after fulltime: “Not right now.”

Jones added: “He’s OK. He’s upbeat. He like ‘we’ll get the scans done, we’ll see where it goes to from there’. He’s obviously disappointed but there’s a bit of upbeat about him too. He really wants to still be involved.

“What a freak! Again, what he did for Newcastle and how he played his footy for the last month. To come into this team and play off the back of these guys….

“We dominated so many areas of that game and he was a beneficiary from that. Playing behind this forward pack, he felt real comfortable."