{"id":388966,"date":"2024-04-29T05:48:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T05:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=388966"},"modified":"2024-04-29T06:03:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T06:03:35","slug":"slaters-verdict-on-maroons-role-for-dejected-ponga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=388966","title":{"rendered":"Slater's verdict on Maroons role for 'dejected' Ponga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy Slater<\/a> has responded to questions about the inclusion of Kalyn Ponga<\/a> as a mentor in Queensland's upcoming State of Origin<\/a> camp, revealing he doesn't think the Maroons<\/a> will "go down that path."<\/p>\n

Ponga was ruled out of the 2024 Origin series after suffering a Lisfranc injury<\/a> during the Knights<\/a> clash with the Bulldogs<\/a> in round \ufeffseven.<\/p>\n

The Newcastle star was \ufeffa leading contender to don the No.1 jersey for the Maroons, with incumbent fullback Reece Walsh<\/a> now a near certainty to retain the position.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Keary makes $800k call in shock retirement<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Awkward vision exposes lingering Swans tension<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Harsh 'reality' behind Latrell's Origin decision<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Last week Maroons selector Darren Lockyer told Wide World of Sports' QLDER<\/em> he believes Queensland will look to incorporate Ponga in the Origin camp in an external leadership role<\/a>, a suggestion coach Slater has now shut down.<\/p>\n

"Look I haven't really thought about that to be honest," Slater said on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

"I think Kalyn's priority is probably to get his injury right to get himself back playing football.<\/p>\n

"It's certainly been done before. I've actually even done it before as a player, I've gone into Origin camp and helped out where I could.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"We probably wouldn't go down that path this year but it's certainly something to think about for sure."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/the-billy-slater-podcast\/billy-responds-to-questions-about-ponga-s-role-wit\/embed?style=Cover&t=12m41s<\/a><\/p>\n

Ponga opted out of last year's Origin selection race due to an ongoing battle with concussions.<\/p>\n

Since his appointment as coach in 2021, Slater has claimed back-to-back victories with the Maroons, notably featuring Ponga in Queensland's 2022 campaign.<\/p>\n

"There's certain injuries that you get concerned about and whenever it's a foot injury it's never a short-term thing," Slater added, regarding Ponga's latest injury.<\/p>\n

"I've heard about Lisfranc for a while now. There are bones in your foot and ligaments in between those bones that tear. It requires surgery, it requires a plate to be put in. It's a good two to three months of recovery from that injury.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Kalyn<\/p>\n

"It's tough for players because they give everything for their career. They put everything into playing footy. They wake up in the morning and their decisions around what's going to help them play the best on the weekend. They go through a gruelling pre-season and everything.<\/p>\n

"Their thing is to play footy and play in the big games."<\/p>\n

Slater revealed he had spoken with the Knights fullback since he was injured against the Bulldogs, revealing he was saddened to hear the "disappointment" in his voice.<\/p>\n

"I spoke to Kalyn last week and he was really dejected. Obviously, what he went through last year, he missed a whole chunk of the season with some concussion issues, and then this now," Slater said.<\/p>\n

"Unfortunately for Kalyn, he's going to miss the next three months. It's a pretty big period for Queensland which are big games that I know Kalyn wants to be a part of.<\/p>\n

"So to hear his disappointment in his voice, I wasn't quite expecting it."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy Slater has responded to questions about the inclusion of Kalyn Ponga as a mentor in Queensland's upcoming State of Origin camp, revealing he doesn't […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":388968,"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\/388966"}],"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=388966"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":388969,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388966\/revisions\/388969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/388968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=388966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=388966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=388966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}