{"id":896456,"date":"2026-09-18T11:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896456\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T11:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:04:15","slug":"nrl-2026-kalyn-ponga-has-the-knights-firing-a-decade-after-his-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896456\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Kalyn Ponga has the Knights firing a decade after his debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s every chance that Kalyn Ponga will be coached by Darius Boyd in next year\u2019s State of Origin series, which makes it even crazier when you consider the fleet-footed fullback was stepping past the Broncos great a decade ago during his dramatic debut.<\/p>\n

The fact Ponga played his first game way back in 2016 makes you question the very concept of time, with just about everything in the world changing apart from his ability to make defenders look silly with a massive left foot step.<\/p>\n

It was in the second week of the finals that Ponga \u2013 18 at the time \u2013 got called up on the wing for the Cowboys in an all-time classic against the Broncos that was decided in extra time.<\/p>\n

Ponga had already made a name for himself with some stunning performances in the National Youth Competition, and it took him just 16 minutes to show off those skills on the big stage when he made a break near halfway, stepped past Boyd and Ben Hunt, and then got done for an obstruction after some flashy footwork. <\/p>\n

The attacking ace is now 28, captains the Knights and is preparing for another second-week finals clash, this time across the ditch against the Warriors. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s won a Dally M Medal and a couple of Origin series, has dealt with several serious injuries, but is still so similar to the young man who dazzled through Brisbane\u2019s defence in Townsville. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone through different stages in 10 years,\u201d Ponga told the NewsWire. <\/p>\n

\u201cI went from a kid where everything was happening so fast to transitioning into a leader and captain of the club who understands and cares a lot more about not only my footy but the town, the community, and what it means to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the position I\u2019m in, and I\u2019m proud of the club as well. That\u2019s why I\u2019m staying with the club for another four years. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing some of these kids coming through now is a lot different to what I was like. They\u2019re 19 or 20 and almost professionals, whereas 10 years ago, I was just a kid. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of where I\u2019m at and excited about these next four years. I think the club is in a really good position.\u201d<\/p>\n

That night in Townsville is one he\u2019ll never forget, with Ponga getting to play with Cowboys legends Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Jason Taumalolo a year after the two teams met in a grand final for the ages.<\/p>\n

He only found out the day before the game that he was playing, which meant he wasn\u2019t overawed by a week of preparation for such a big occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being young, enthusiastic, and excited about making my debut, playing in the finals, and playing with a lot of greats of the game. These were people I looked up to and who looked after me during that age period,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe game itself, I just remember being outside \u2018Johnno\u2019 (Thurston) and thinking \u2018don\u2019t let him down\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was quite young, and I think not really understanding what I was about to go into might have helped me. I probably didn\u2019t understand the amount of work they had put in to get to that point. I was playing under-20s, so it was just a different feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back, I was very grateful and appreciative, but I probably should have understood it a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Don\u2019t let him down\u2019: Kalyn Ponga reflects on incredible 10-year journey that started with epic finals game on debut<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s every chance that Kalyn Ponga will be coached by Darius Boyd in next year\u2019s State of Origin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[392508,428585,365771,465614,104821,357872,377674,377373,465610,378346,465607,465606,380523,465598,380489,376730,465601,453327,465599,381022,376925,394598,465589,465603,465592,64,63,465590,651,163,465608,281515,41286,434117,465602,465600,390393,465604,16308,39725,404503,390377,465579,465597,465593,39262,302996,465612,465595,3762,7992,32895,254748,404875,400541,761,762,43961,155207,158,778,1861,402322,465586,13890,1001,465613,465581,465615,85,465591,465580,465583,380255,377572,465585,379067,465588,437985,61418,382205,380572,34775,379738,378324,465605,377453,377514,465582,74713,101147,465594,380371,380979,411771,376539,385557,389900,465609,12644,465611,417005,54798,454622,459160,465584,22637,378871,465596,430091,6618,6649,465587,6624],"class_list":["post-896456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-defence","tag-s-state","tag-10-years","tag-19-or-20","tag-104821","tag-357872","tag-a-break","tag-a-couple","tag-a-dally-m-medal","tag-a-decade","tag-a-different-feeling","tag-a-grand-final","tag-a-kid","tag-a-leader-and-captain","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-lot","tag-a-massive-left-foot-step-it","tag-a-name","tag-a-really-good-position","tag-a-week","tag-a-year","tag-an-all-time-classic","tag-an-obstruction","tag-another-four-years","tag-another-second-week-finals-clash","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boyd-and-ben-hunt","tag-brisbane","tag-cowboys","tag-cowboys-legends-johnathan-thurston","tag-darius-boyd","tag-debut","tag-defenders","tag-different-stages","tag-epic-finals-game","tag-every-chance","tag-extra-time-ponga","tag-finals","tag-greats","tag-his-ability","tag-his-debut","tag-his-dramatic-debut","tag-his-first-game-way","tag-incredible-10-year-journey","tag-jason-taumalolo","tag-johnno","tag-just-16-minutes","tag-just-about-everything","tag-kalyn-ponga","tag-knights","tag-legacy","tag-matt-scott","tag-my-debut","tag-my-footy","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newswire-sport","tag-next-year","tag-nrl","tag-origin-series","tag-people","tag-ponga","tag-ponga-18","tag-preparation","tag-professionals","tag-several-serious-injuries","tag-some-flashy-footwork","tag-some-stunning-performances","tag-sports","tag-such-a-big-occasion","tag-that-age-period","tag-that-fateful-finals-game","tag-that-night","tag-that-point","tag-the-ages-he","tag-the-amount","tag-the-attacking-ace","tag-the-big-stage","tag-the-broncos","tag-the-club","tag-the-community","tag-the-cowboys","tag-the-day","tag-the-ditch","tag-the-fact-ponga","tag-the-field","tag-the-finals","tag-the-fleet-footed-fullback","tag-the-game","tag-the-knights","tag-the-national-youth-competition","tag-the-newswire","tag-the-position","tag-the-second-week","tag-the-time","tag-the-town","tag-the-two-teams","tag-the-very-concept","tag-the-warriors","tag-the-wild-night","tag-the-wing","tag-the-world","tag-the-young-man","tag-these-kids","tag-these-next-four-years","tag-thinking","tag-this-time","tag-those-skills","tag-thurston","tag-time","tag-townsville","tag-under-20s","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896456","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=896456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}