{"id":952584,"date":"2026-11-04T18:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T18:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/952584\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T18:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T18:30:18","slug":"kalyn-ponga-leaves-nrl-world-speechless-as-world-cup-comeback-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/952584\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga leaves NRL world speechless as World Cup comeback firms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalyn Ponga is firming to take the field for New Zealand against Tonga just three weeks on from breaking his arm in the Kiwis\u2019 opening World Cup match. <\/p>\n

The 28-year-old was surprisingly named on the extended bench for Saturday\u2019s semi-final at McDonald Jones Stadium and will potentially be catapulted into the starting team if he gets the all-clear from team physios. <\/p>\n

Ponga played for more than 20 minutes with his broken arm in New Zealand\u2019s narrow 24-22 loss to the Kangaroos before undergoing surgery in the hope of returning in time for the final.<\/p>\n

While that looked like a tall task at the time, he incredibly now appears to be a strong chance of playing against Tonga a week earlier than anticipated. <\/p>\n

And his former Knights teammate and Kiwi centre Dane Gagai is backing the Newcastle star to take the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll just come down to the boxes he\u2019ll have to tick with the physios and stuff, but one thing that\u2019s never in question is Kalyn\u2019s toughness, and I don\u2019t think he gets enough credit or praise for it,\u201d Gagai told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the games he\u2019s played with injury. It was only maybe a year or two ago with his AC and getting that injected, but he\u2019ll put his head in most places that people won\u2019t put their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019ve got no doubt he\u2019ll do everything he can to make sure he can take that field. It\u2019s just a case of whether he can tick those boxes and he\u2019ll know whether he\u2019s capable of playing or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t put himself before the team, but we\u2019d obviously love to have him out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kiwi No.1 was also seen training drills at fullback on Tuesday in a huge sign he could be given the all-clear.<\/p>\n

\"Kalyn<\/p>\n

And it has left fans both stunned and excited over the prospect of his return this weekend. <\/p>\n

\u201cKalyn Ponga named on Kiwis extended list for semi-final vs Tonga. Unbelievable as that scenario seems,\u201d NZ journalist Michael Burgess wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cPonga and Crossland definitely start on game day,\u201d Todd Kelly Jr commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnbelievable recovery,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

But it isn\u2019t just Ponga that could be brought into the team come Saturday evening, with Phoenix Crossland named on the extended bench after serving his four-game suspension for a hip-drop tackle that broke Nathan Cleary\u2019s ankle.<\/p>\n

And Gagai said his return would be a huge boost.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s come in a bit later into camp, but even though he wasn\u2019t playing, he\u2019s always himself and brings a lot of energy,\u201d Gagai said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s awesome to have around the place. It\u2019s going to be good to be able to chuck this jersey on with him and nice to know that the game against Penrith wasn\u2019t our last together.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m definitely looking forward to that and I\u2019m super happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Unbelievable\u2019: Kalyn Ponga leaves NRL world speechless as World Cup comeback firms<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga is firming to take the field for New Zealand against Tonga just three weeks on from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[519771,519768,456937,519763,376963,385886,438429,421883,397626,376730,378768,460594,519765,381022,376925,64,63,20871,290495,2572,519759,190861,1635,147808,448545,20924,519760,405681,519791,519782,519788,382519,378779,3899,458403,109470,3762,519766,15499,77478,19321,519787,519762,1203,761,762,1736,158,444101,519777,388615,519789,519773,16284,1861,421891,402322,519769,16380,135021,46907,519778,85,1369,519767,463654,519770,376810,519776,519785,519779,402330,377453,519764,74713,378583,46675,376808,11637,519772,489817,519786,519775,379086,384823,468569,519761,315971,376539,519784,401881,493105,379782,519774,6618,519780,18559,28333,48787,519783,519790,519781],"class_list":["post-952584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-ankle-and","tag-s-narrow-24-22-loss","tag-s-semi-final","tag-s-toughness","tag-a-bit","tag-a-case","tag-a-hip-drop-tackle","tag-a-huge-boost","tag-a-huge-sign","tag-a-lot","tag-a-major-update","tag-a-strong-chance","tag-a-tall-task","tag-a-week","tag-a-year","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-camp","tag-drills","tag-energy","tag-enough-credit-or-praise","tag-evening","tag-fans","tag-fullback","tag-gagai","tag-game-day","tag-his-ac","tag-his-arm","tag-his-broken-arm","tag-his-former-knights-teammate","tag-his-four-game-suspension","tag-his-head","tag-his-return","tag-injury","tag-just-three-weeks","tag-kalyn","tag-kalyn-ponga","tag-kiwi-centre-dane-gagai","tag-kiwis","tag-list","tag-mcdonald-jones-stadium","tag-more-than-20-minutes","tag-most-places","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-world","tag-nz-journalist-michael-burgess","tag-one-thing","tag-opening-world","tag-our-last","tag-penrith","tag-people","tag-phoenix-crossland","tag-ponga","tag-ponga-and-crossland","tag-question","tag-reporters","tag-saturday","tag-semi-final-vs-tonga","tag-sports","tag-surgery","tag-team-physios","tag-that-field","tag-that-scenario","tag-the-28-year-old","tag-the-all-clear","tag-the-all-clear-sighted","tag-the-boxes","tag-the-extended-bench","tag-the-field","tag-the-final-while","tag-the-game","tag-the-games","tag-the-gold-coast","tag-the-hope","tag-the-kangaroos","tag-the-kiwi-no-1","tag-the-kiwis","tag-the-newcastle-star","tag-the-physios-and-stuff","tag-the-place","tag-the-prospect","tag-the-rugby-league-world","tag-the-starting-team","tag-the-team","tag-the-time","tag-the-world-cup-semi-finals","tag-their-hands","tag-this-jersey","tag-this-weekend","tag-those-boxes","tag-time","tag-todd-kelly-jr","tag-tonga","tag-tuesday","tag-unbelievable","tag-unbelievable-recovery","tag-unbelievable-ponga","tag-world-cup-comeback-firms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952584","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=952584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}