The nib Newcastle Knights have secured one of the most significant signings in the club\u2019s history, with captain Kalyn Ponga committing his future until at least the end of the 2030 NRL season.<\/p>\n
The landmark extension, which also includes a further two-year option in the club\u2019s favour, ensures Ponga will remain in red and blue for what would be at least 13 seasons since making his debut in 2018, further cementing his legacy as one of the Knights\u2019 all-time greats.<\/p>\n
More than just a contract renewal, Ponga\u2019s decision is a strong endorsement of the club\u2019s direction under Head Coach Justin Holbrook, and a clear signal of shared ambition as the Knights push towards premiership success.<\/p>\n
Holbrook said retaining Ponga was a major moment for the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cKalyn is an elite player and an elite person and re-signing him is massive for us,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis leadership within this group is exceptional. He sets the standard every single day, in training, in games, in the way he carries himself, and the players in this squad look to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of influence is invaluable as we continue to build toward the goals we have set for this club. He is one of the leading players in the NRL and he is ours. I could not be more pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head of Recruitment Peter O\u2019Sullivan said the deal reflects the club\u2019s long-term strategy of building sustained success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this new deal concludes, Kalyn will have been a Newcastle Knight for at least 13 seasons. That is an extraordinary commitment and one that speaks volumes about who he is as a person and a player,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a recruitment and retention perspective, this is exactly the kind of signing that underpins our strategy to bring Premiership success to the Knights.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetaining your very best players, the ones who understand your culture, who drive your standards, who want to win here, is fundamental to everything we are trying to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cKalyn makes every player he plays alongside better and with the exceptional young talent we have coming through, there are exciting times ahead for this squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ponga said the decision to extend was an easy one, driven by his belief in the club\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel privileged and proud to know what I\u2019m doing with my future. I\u2019ve extended until the end of 2030, three more years at this club,\u201d Ponga said.<\/p>\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t
<\/p>\n
\u201cTo lock that in and know I\u2019m still going to be part of the Knights journey, I\u2019m extremely grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here for 10 years and where we are now, the people within it, the direction of the club, the players that are coming through, I know I want to be here.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin has created an environment that everyone wants to be a part of, come in every day and learn and train and get better. He\u2019s obviously a big part of it all as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to win a Premiership here and I want to do it so badly. I\u2019ve now got the opportunity to keep chasing that dream and that\u2019s what I see in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The extension reinforces a shared belief across the club that its best years lie ahead, with Ponga to remain at the forefront of the Knights\u2019 pursuit of premiership success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nib Newcastle Knights have secured one of the most significant signings in the club\u2019s history, with captain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-629123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}