- Kalyn Ponga has turned down the chance to play for Australia
- Ponga says he wants to focus on Newcastle Knights
- NRL could sanction fullback Gun for his decision
Kalyn Ponga has made the surprising decision to not make herself available for Australian selection and will instead prioritise a pre-season training camp in Newcastle.
Ponga notified Knights officials on Tuesday that he did not want to play in the end-of-year trials for the Kangaroos as it would cut short his pre-season with the Knights.
The decision comes after Ponga also declared himself unavailable for State of Origin last season after returning from a lengthy spell out with concussion.
There are no such injury concerns this time around as Ponga is desperate to return for Newcastle’s pre-season in November alongside his team-mates.
“I want to win a competition, for me anything other than that is not success,” said Ponga.
‘My focus has never changed from wanting to win a championship with the Knights, that has been my goal since I joined the club in 2018 and it remains my focus.
‘When I’m done, I want to look back on my career with a positive reflection, including people saying that I was a great recruit and that I represented our community as best I could.
“For now, I don’t feel like I’ve earned it yet. That’s why I made this decision and I’ll work hard every day to achieve those goals.”
An NRL superstar has turned down the chance to represent Australia in the post-season
Kalyn Ponga says he wants to focus on being in top form for Newcastle Knights
Ponga missed two and a half months this year with a foot injury and did not reach peak form in the 2023 Dally M until August.
But he roared back to life at the end, leading the Knights into the first week of the finals with 50 tackle breaks and seven try assists in his last six games.
The Queenslander’s withdrawal means James Tedesco has reaffirmed his chances of retaining his place as Australia’s fullback and captain for the Pacific Championship.
According to Dave Riccio, coach Meninga is very unhappy with Ponga’s decision and could face a sanction from the NRL.
“The main sticking point here is the process or lack of process that has been followed,” Riccio said on NRL360.
‘Make a phone call to Mal and say this is what I’m thinking, would you be okay with that?’ and this would be a very different story.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga is reportedly furious with Knights superstar
“But the fact that the press release came to light, to the complete surprise of the NRL and Mal Meninga, is what is going to create a bigger story here.”
Paul Crawley said: ‘I looked at his statement saying he wanted to focus his attention on Newcastle and at first you say “well, that’s fine” but when you start to take apart the parts of this process that have been neglected,
‘As I understand it, the Knights had been informed he would be in the squad, so if it turns out he didn’t call up the NRL and especially Mal Meninga, that’s absolute disrespect and a slap in the face.
‘The NRL needs to take a position on this because in the past, in times gone by, it was always down to the medical representative to make the decision on whether a player was available or not.
‘That seems to have disappeared in clubs that have assumed more professionalism, but here there is no talk of injuries.
‘If the NRL doesn’t take a firm stance it will open a loophole for other clubs to say in the future that we don’t want our players playing for Tonga, Samoa, Australia or New Zealand in end of season test matches.
“It’s disrespectful to the NRL, where they would almost give him a fine for bringing the game into disrepute and not let him play in Origin next year. If they don’t want to play Test matches, then Origin is a selection trial for the Australian team.”