Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga has indicated he’s “keen to play” for the Maori side in the upcoming NRL All Stars game, in a move set to raise eyebrows after his messy Kangaroos saga with coach Mal Meninga. Ponga initially declared himself unavailable for Australia’s Pacific Championships campaign at the end of last season so he could focus on pre-season with the Knights, only to backflip on the call after the NRL threatened him with sanctions.
Meninga then decided to overlook the Newcastle superstar anyway but declared at the time it was because he was not the best fullback and had nothing to do with his initial snub of the national side. “We had a really good conversation, I was really happy,” Meninga said about Ponga at the time. “We chose the team on merit. We sat around the selection table, six of us, and we considered Kalyn a specialist fullback. He has played 14 (for Queensland), we know that. But we feel that Dylan Edwards is the best No.1 in the game at the moment.”
Fast forward four months and the Newcastle captain is understood to be preparing to play for the Maori side in an All Stars game desperate to add some star power after a number of high-profile players were ruled out. Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr have been cleared to use the annual exhibition match to count towards their respective suspensions, in a move that has sparked backlash around the league world.
Leave a Reply