{"id":306541,"date":"2023-06-10T21:20:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T21:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=306541"},"modified":"2023-06-10T21:58:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-10T21:58:55","slug":"pongas-surprising-new-admission-on-jumper-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=306541","title":{"rendered":"Ponga's surprising new admission on jumper switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalyn Ponga<\/a> has opened up on his axing from Queensland's State of Origin side<\/a> and his move back to fullback for Newcastle after a loss to the Broncos.<\/p>\n

While the Knights ultimately fell short at Suncorp Stadium<\/a>, Ponga was electric, breaking through for a try in the first half and finishing with a team-high 10 tackle breaks.<\/p>\n

Poetically, it was Queensland fullback Reece Walsh who he stepped around to score, however Walsh ultimately beat him on the tackle break count with 13.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Green labelled 'cheat' as Aussies press WTC final advantage<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> World No.1 shakes off 'crisis' to win Roland-Garros final<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Tempers flare as head knock adds to Origin woes<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponga started the season at five-eighth for Newcastle, but has played the last two matches at fullback and appears to be more comfortable in the role.<\/p>\n

"I'm enjoying building combinations with the halves, obviously fullback's the natural position for me, I don't have to think about what I'm doing, I just do it and then I can help other people off that," he said post-game.<\/p>\n

\"Kalyn<\/p>\n

"Whereas when I was at six I was thinking 'what am I supposed to do here?'."<\/p>\n

While not completely conceding his time at five-eighth is over, Ponga admitted there's "a discussion to have" over his future. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I worked \ufeffso hard to be in that position, I wanted that challenge but obviously I'm a bit more natural at the back," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's a discussion to have, \ufeffI think it's what's best for the team right now."<\/p>\n

Ponga – who starred for Queensland in game three of last year's State of Origin series – also confirmed he spoke to coach Billy Slater about his unavailability for this series.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

After a head knock in round two ruled him out for five games, Ponga's lack of football was a major concern for Slater, and the fullback believed he needed to repay the Knights. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I gave him a \ufeffmessage, (and) I spoke to my old man, I've had a rough season … and Billy actually brought light to this, I've had a tough few months," he said.<\/p>\n

"Footy for me at the moment is just being out there and playing, and I owe it to the Knights to do that, I owe it to them, and I want to as well.<\/p>\n

"I'm enjoying my footy now, after having that head knock and all the commotion that came with it, I wanted to put that in the past, just get out there, play footy and enjoy it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"They've got a great fullback out the back there for Queensland now (Reece Walsh), so I'm happy playing footy for the Knights, doing my best there."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 State of Origin series LIVE and exclusive on Channel 9 and<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout Saturday's fixture, both fullbacks went head to head with each other. Walsh accelerated towards Ponga with five minutes left in the game off a kick return before the two engaged in a loving embrace post-match.<\/p>\n

\"Walsh's\u00a0beautiful\u00a0moment\u00a0with\u00a0daughter\"<\/p>\n

Ponga stated he was "excited" about the match-up and gave credit to the Broncos star for his Origin performance<\/a>. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"Reece \ufeffis a quality player, I don't know why there was any doubt there in the first place, look at the footy he's been playing and you've also got to look at who picked him in that team and the faith they have … Billy, JT, Cam Smith all those brains picked him at fullback and I knew he was going to play well," he said.<\/p>\n

"The thing that Queensland do is once they pick their team they be loyal, I remember that last year when in Game II we got flogged and we had a meeting and they said this team is going to get it done.<\/p>\n

"Regardless whether he was going to play well or not … I was pretty comfortable (with my decision), I wanted to enjoy footy, that's my main focus and I've been doing that at the Knights."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kalyn Ponga has opened up on his axing from Queensland's State of Origin side and his move back to fullback for Newcastle after a loss […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=306541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306545,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306541\/revisions\/306545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/306543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=306541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=306541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=306541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}