{"id":396471,"date":"2026-04-25T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T04:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396471\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T04:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T04:00:11","slug":"kalyn-ponga-shocks-with-confirmed-contract-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396471\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalyn Ponga shocks with confirmed contract call"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle Knights<\/a> have dropped a surprise on the NRL<\/a> landscape, locking in the future of Kalyn Ponga<\/a> until at least the end of 2030.<\/p>\n

The star fullback has been linked to other NRL<\/a> clubs repeatedly in recent seasons, and was also believed to be considering a stint in rugby union to chase a dream of playing for the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

The Knights’ exceptional start to the 2026 NRL<\/a> season though has led him to not make it to the November 1 free agency deadline, instead signing a three-year extension with the Knights through to the end of 2030.<\/p>\n

The contract will see he and Dylan Brown<\/a> continue to lead the club’s spine for the foreseeable future, and all but guarantees he will finish his career in the Hunter.<\/p>\n

Already 28, Ponga will be 32 by the time his new deal ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cKalyn is an elite player and an elite person and re-signing him is massive for us,\u201d head coach Justin Holbrook<\/a> said of his re-signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis leadership within this group is exceptional. He sets the standard every single day, in training, in games, in the way he carries himself, and the players in this squad look to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of influence is invaluable as we continue to build toward the goals we have set for this club. He is one of the leading players in the NRL<\/a> and he is ours. I could not be more pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n

The million-dollar plus player will be under enormous pressure to deliver a premiership to Newcastle under the coaching of Justin Holbrook<\/a>, who has made a strong impression on the playing group during his first months in charge.<\/p>\n

It was thought Ponga may exit Newcastle given salary cap pressures brought on by Brown’s signing, but the duo, who could both represent New Zealand<\/a> at this year’s Rugby League<\/a> World Cup, will have time to build their combination alongside an exciting crop of young talent emerging at the club, led by Fletcher Sharpe<\/a>, Dylan Lucas<\/a> and Fletcher Hunt<\/a> among others.<\/p>\n

The deal will ensure Ponga spends at least 13 years at the club, and the club’s head of recruitment Peter O’Sullivan said it was the kind of deal that proves Newcastle are fighting for a premiership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this new deal concludes, Kalyn will have been a Newcastle Knight for at least 13 seasons. That is an extraordinary commitment and one that speaks volumes about who he is as a person and a player,\u201d O’Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a recruitment and retention perspective, this is exactly the kind of signing that underpins our strategy to bring Premiership success to the Knights.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetaining your very best players, the ones who understand your culture, who drive your standards, who want to win here, is fundamental to everything we are trying to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cKalyn makes every player he plays alongside better and with the exceptional young talent we have coming through, there are exciting times ahead for this squad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights have dropped a surprise on the NRL landscape, locking in the future of Kalyn Ponga…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-396471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}