{"id":689059,"date":"2026-05-23T07:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/689059\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T07:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:48:16","slug":"state-of-origin-2024-jacob-saifiti-promises-to-reveal-kalyn-pongas-secrets-to-nsw-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/689059\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2024: Jacob Saifiti promises to reveal Kalyn Ponga’s secrets to NSW Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ChrisSave<\/p>\n

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NSW forward Jacob Saifiti is ready to dish the dirt on his Newcastle clubmate Kalyn Ponga as the Blues attempt to nullify the impact of Queensland\u2019s brilliant fullback for game one of the Origin series.<\/p>\n

Ponga was chosen ahead of Reece Walsh<\/a> and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow in the Maroons No.1 jersey for the opener at Accor Stadium on Wednesday after missing last year\u2019s decider with a foot injury.<\/p>\n

In fine form for a Knights side that has been one of the surprise packets of the NRL, rising into the top four, he shapes as one of the main dangers to Laurie Daley\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

If the Blues are looking for the inside word on him, they will need to look no further than Ponga\u2019s Newcastle colleague of nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

Saifiti is back in the NSW squad for the first time since 2023 and has vowed to provide the inside word on the Knights captain in a bid to thwart his influence for Queensland.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good mate of mine and a teammate back in clubland, but if any of the boys want any secrets on him, I\u2019ll tell them for sure,\u201d the front-rower said.<\/p>\n

\"JacobJacob Saifiti and Kalyn Ponga are Newcastle teammates \u2013 but that counts for little at Origin time.Getty\/Matt Davidson<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have my Knights jersey on this weekend, neither does he. We\u2019ve got two different jerseys on. He\u2019s not my mate on Wednesday night … I do love the bloke, but not Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saifiti said he wouldn\u2019t be giving up club moves but could provide valuable insight on Ponga\u2019s style after playing alongside him and training against him since the fullback\u2019s arrival from North Queensland in 2018.<\/p>\n

There had been speculation that Ponga would be selected at halfback for the Maroons, but he was picked in his preferred position, where he has played most of his 10-game Origin career including a man-of-the-match display in the 2022 series decider.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough he\u2019s tricky, I feel like I know some of his cues and stuff. I won\u2019t shy away from telling the boys,\u201d Saifiti said.<\/p>\n

\"JacobJacob Saifiti trains with the Blues squad on Saturday.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in terms of mate versus mate, I had to play against my twin brother [Daniel] last year, so playing Kalyn will be pretty easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only prop on the Blues bench, the 30-year-old has an important part to play for Daley beyond offering up intelligence on one of Queensland\u2019s strike weapons.<\/p>\n

Saifiti admits he was worried initially about the effects the changes to the six-again rule this year<\/a> might have on big forwards like himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m actually playing way more minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m playing way better footy, so if anything my job\u2019s going to be a bit easier. I\u2019ve been playing 60 minutes, 65 minutes every week.<\/p>\n

\u2018Although he\u2019s tricky, I feel like I know some of his cues. I won\u2019t shy away from telling the boys.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jacob Saifiti on Kalyn Ponga<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I\u2019m not going to have to do that, so it just means I\u2019m going to have to bring a lot of energy in that short amount of time I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saifiti is an automatic starter for his club, but coming off the bench is not foreign to him. He had twin Daniel and former Blues enforcer David Klemmer ahead of him earlier in his career at the Knights, and it was as an interchange player when he made his two previous appearances for NSW.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Victor<\/a><\/p>\n

He is embracing taking up a role previously occupied by Rooster firebrand Spencer Leniu.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything my role will probably be a bit more simplified \u2026 [to] bring a lot of energy, bring some impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMomentum is so important these days and with the speed of the ruck and stuff, it\u2019s so hard to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019ve got the momentum, my job\u2019s to go on there and maintain it. If we don\u2019t, my game should be to go on and get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ChrisChris Barrett<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-689059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689059","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=689059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}