{"id":717357,"date":"2026-06-05T17:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/717357\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T17:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:26:16","slug":"nrl-2026-kalyn-pongas-tackling-technique-slammed-shoulder-charge-problem-for-maroons-state-of-origin-storm-v-knights-rugby-league-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/717357\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Kalyn Ponga\u2019s tackling technique slammed, shoulder charge, problem for Maroons, State of Origin, Storm v Knights, rugby league news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalyn Ponga\u2019s suspect tackling technique has been placed under the microscope again, just nine days after he was sent off in Origin I for a shoulder charge.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

During Newcastle\u2019s clash with the Storm<\/a>, Ponga came across in cover defence and saved a try with a shoulder charge on Will Warbrick.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ponga\u2019s shoulder contacted the ball, forcing a knock on. It wasn\u2019t picked up by the officials and play was allowed to carry on. He wasn\u2019t placed on report either.<\/p>\n

However, the Fox League panel took a closer look at the tackle half time, with Braith Anasta asking if it deserved to be a <\/p>\n

\u201cKalyn Ponga definitely has a technique problem with his tackling. It looked very similar to what happened last Wednesday night, but he made contact with the ball,\u201d Greg Alexander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that makes any contact with the head, he\u2019s absolutely in trouble,\u201d Cooper Cronk added.<\/p>\n

\u201dHe has tucked the arm. He to be cautioned about the way he goes about that because look, technically it probably is a penalty, but it wasn\u2019t just because he made contact with the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s got some challenges when doing cover defence Kalyn Ponga.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/p>\n

\u2018HELL OF A FIGHT\u2019: Storm survive huge scare in 62-point thriller as star sent to hospital<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018PRETTY HEAVY\u2019: Storm\u2019s reaction to Coates disaster as Origin, Aussie dreams up in smoke<\/a><\/p>\n

Kalyn Ponga’s suspect tackle on Will Warbrick was similar to the controversial incident in Origin I.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Ponga may have stopped a Warbrick try with that play, but he wasn\u2019t so lucky in the second half when trying to tackle Jahrome Hughes.<\/p>\n

Hughes ran straight over Ponga 20 metres out to score a try, with the fullback\u2019s technique letting him down.<\/p>\n

Ponga at least made some effort to wrap his arms, but it looked awkward as Hughes was able to shove him off with ease.<\/p>\n

In a huge scare to the Knights and Maroons, Ponga was wincing while clutching his shoulder but he was able to play on. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe got his body and head in the wrong place there,\u201d Kevin Walters said in commentary.<\/p>\n

Speaking post-match, coach Justin Holbrook revealed that he doesn\u2019t know the severity but just thinks it is a burner.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s real sore, so he\u2019s getting some work on it now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKP\u2019s a real sore neck, but I think it might just be one of those burners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga\u2019s suspect tackling technique has been placed under the microscope again, just nine days after he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,11101,763,11102,4575,3194,761,762,158,23858,85,348048,348049,348046,348047],"class_list":["post-717357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cooper-cronk","tag-fox-league","tag-greg-alexander","tag-jahrome-hughes","tag-kevin-walters","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-shoulder-charge","tag-sports","tag-suspect-tackling-technique","tag-tackling-technique","tag-technique-letting","tag-technique-problem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717357","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=717357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}