{"id":724549,"date":"2026-06-09T05:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T05:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724549\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T05:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T05:57:21","slug":"state-of-origin-news-2026-kalyn-ponga-laughs-off-cameron-munster-beef-queensland-maroons-camp-press-conference-reece-walsh-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724549\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin news 2026: Kalyn Ponga laughs off Cameron Munster beef; Queensland Maroons camp, press conference, Reece Walsh selection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalyn Ponga<\/a> has laughed off any potential beef with Maroons<\/a> teammate Cameron Munster<\/a> after the pair had a fiery run-in last Friday night.<\/p>\n

The two superstars were involved in a stoush when Ponga\u2019s Knights<\/a> faced off against Munster\u2019s Storm<\/a> and the latter got the last laugh in a 32-30 win<\/a>, just days before they came together in State of Origin<\/a> camp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cameron Munster shoves Kalyn Ponga to the ground.\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Munster ran in and pushed Ponga, leading to a scuffle between the two teams.<\/p>\n

Queensland coach Billy Slater<\/a> was unfazed about any dramas between two of his most important players, saying they would be \u201call good\u201d and claimed the pair \u201cwould have had a laugh about it\u201d following the round 14 clash.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media on the first day of Origin camp, Ponga towed a similar line when asked about the incident, putting it down to Munster\u2019s competitiveness. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve gotta love him, don\u2019t you? He\u2019s a competitor and I knew exactly what [he\u2019s like], I\u2019ve played against him so many times over the years,\u201d the fullback said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s trying to inspire his team and they won the game, so it\u2019s 1-0 to Munny.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t [shocked] to be honest, it\u2019s Munny – I\u2019d be shocked if he wasn\u2019t in there. I could tell from the start of the game that he wanted that and he was laughing at me earlier in the game, which I don\u2019t think anyone saw. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when Munny is at his best. Unfortunately, I was on the other side of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ponga and Munster have appeared alongside each other for the Maroons plenty of times over the years, including in last month\u2019s series opener.<\/p>\n

In that match, Ponga was sent off for a shoulder charge on Tolu Koula<\/a> – a moment that caused plenty of debate and ultimately cost Queensland the game.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old found himself in hot water again against the Storm when he was penalised for a similar tackle, but avoided suspension. <\/p>\n

Ponga said he was taking \u201caccountability\u201d for his questionable tackling technique and revealed he would speak to coach Slater about ways to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t too worried [about the tackle against Melbourne], but you just don\u2019t know at the moment,\u201d the 2023 Dally M winner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was definitely relieved to be able to be back in this camp for sure. I need to acknowledge that I can be better in moments. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously what happened in game one, whether right or wrong, I put my team in a certain position and moving forward \u2026 I don\u2019t want that to happen. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kalyn Ponga is sent off during the State of Origin opener.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s definitely some accountability on my end. It\u2019s tough, it\u2019s a position that happens in a split second and I\u2019m running as fast as I can and someone else is running as fast as they can to a corner, so it\u2019s not the most clear and easy thing to do, but I do acknowledge that I need to be better. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have a chat with Billy and nut some of that out. For me, it\u2019s just getting to the position earlier and steady my feet to get in a better position. I\u2019ve got someone who was the best in the game and hopefully I can learn some things from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater named his Maroons squad for game two on Monday<\/a>, with a handful of changes headlined by the return of Reece Walsh<\/a> on the bench.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unclear what role he will play – if any – Ponga said he was relishing the chance to train alongside a fellow superstar fullback at Origin level.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a superstar isn\u2019t he? It\u2019s exciting to have him back in camp,\u201d Ponga said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know what he can do on the field and he\u2019s an infectious person off the field. There\u2019s mutual respect and understanding that you have to earn this jersey. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got it over me [in the past], but obviously I\u2019ve been lucky enough to wear it. Whatever is best for the state, we both understand that. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s already asking me things and giving me tips and stuff like that. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pretty fearless, he goes after the game and has all the attributes in terms of skill, but also mindset. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw it last year in the finals, he was on another level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walsh told meda it would be \u201cpretty scary\u201d for NSW to contain both himself and Ponga at the same time, should they end up on the field together.<\/p>\n

The speedster also got into an awkward exchange with a reporter over his form in club land with Brisbane during their five-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the only opinion that matters is you guys [the media] … what do you think of it?,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right. I\u2019m just looking forward to working here in Queensland and putting my best foot forward and do my best throughout the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kulikefu Finefeuiaki<\/a> will make his Origin debut in game two, Murray Taulagi has been recalled on the six-man bench and Heilum Luki will act as 20th man.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh has been recalled for game two.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga has laughed off any potential beef with Maroons teammate Cameron Munster after the pair had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-724549","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\/724549","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=724549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}