Kalyn Ponga
Kalyn Ponga was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia on March 30th, 1998 and is the Rugby Player. At the age of 26, Kalyn Ponga biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 26 years old, Kalyn Ponga has this physical status:
Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is a rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback, five-eighth and on the wing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
He played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League, New Zealand Maori at international level, and has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.
Playing career
Ponga starred with the North Queensland Cowboys Holden Cup from 2015 to 2017, scoring 32 points and kicking 42 goals for 212 points in his U20s career.
Ponga retired from Townsville, where he competed for the Ignatius Park Stingers in the Mal Meninga Cup. Ponga also featured Australia in the under 18s touch football at the 2015 Youth Trans Tasman series later this year. He was a member of the QAS Emerging under 18 Origin squad in January. He made his NYC debut for the Cowboys in August, coming off the bench in his team's 5-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels in Round 20. It was later revealed that he had missed five months of the season due to a life-threatening brain disease. He spent the year as the Cowboys' fullback, scoring 8 tries in 8 games. In October, he was invited to train with the New Zealand national team in preparation for their tour of Great Britain. He made the Cowboys' 2016 first grade squad for pre-season training in November.
Ponga was selected in the QAS under-20s Origin squad in January. He appeared in the Cowboys' first-grade game against the Broncos in February, scoring a try. Ponga was selected for the Junior Kangaroos and Junior Kiwis in May, but he declined to participate. He spent the majority of the year with the Cowboys' NYC and was named at fullback in the NYC Team of the Year.
Ponga made his NRL debut on the wing against the Brisbane Broncos in the finals on September 16th, replacing injured Antonio Winterstein. Ponga was just shy of scoring his first NRL try in the 16th minute of the game, when Broncos Lock Corey Parker took down the wing. He is only the sixth player to make his first-grade debut in a finals match since 1987. He was on loan with the Cowboys until the end of 2017.
Ponga had signed a deal with the Newcastle Knights beginning in 2018. North Queensland's head coach Paul Green revealed the news and expressed surprise that the contract was now in the cooling off period on November 17th. The four-year contract, which started in 2018, was officially announced on November 28th. According to reports, the NRL will make him the highest paid teenager in history.
In February, Ponga was selected in North Queensland's squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines tournament. He led North Queensland to a quarterfinals berth before being blasted by the Storm. He scored five goals and was named in the tournament's squad with teammate Gideon Gela-Mosby. In Round 3, Ponga played his first NRL game for the Cowboys at fullback. In their 8-30 loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, he had two line break assists, seven tackle breaks, and 113 running meters. In the Cowboys' Round 4 win over the Gold Coast Titans, he scored his first NRL try. After scoring two tries, he was named man of the match in the Cowboys' round 8 victory over the Newcastle Knights.
In their round 24 match against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Ponga returned to the North Queensland first-grade lineup. He sustained a shoulder injury during the match. In the NYC finals elimination loss to Manly, he returned two weeks later. He appeared at fullback in the NYC Team of the Year for the second year in a row before being named one of five finalists for the RLPA Rookie of the Year award in September.
Ponga was allowed to play in test football but revealed his allegiance to Queensland, and eventually Australia in January 2018. In round one of the 2018 season, he made his Knights' 19-18 golden point extra-time victory over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, scoring a try and scoring three goals.
In Game II of the 2018 State of Origins collection, Ponga made his State of Origin debut for Queensland in June. In the 28th minute, he came out of position in the middle of the field, playing out of place. He played 52 minutes, made 29 tackles, and made a line break late in the game, but was stopped by New South Wales fullback James Tedesco before the score was called off. Former Knights and Australian test halfback Andrew Johns called it 'the best debut in Origin history.'
Ponga was named in the Australian side for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s on October 7th. Ponga was named in the U23 Junior Australian side later that day.
Ponga's contract with Newcastle was extended until the end of 2024 in June, but Ponga's last two years were options in Ponga's favour.
Ponga scored two tries in a man of the match appearance as Newcastle defeated Cronulla-Sutherland 26-22 in round 6 of the 2021 NRL season.
In Newcastle's 38-0 victory over North Queensland, Ponga put in a man of the match appearance and scored two tries.
Ponga returned to the Queensland Origins team in Game three of the 2021 State of Origins series after missing out on the last six matches due to injury. He was involved in Queensland's 20-18 victory over its 20-18 victory over a New South Wales whitewash for the series.
Ponga had to activate the options in his 2023 and 2024 seasons until June 2022. In April, he signed a new five-year contract, which would replace the current one which will expires in 2027.
In a Queensland side that does not have regular five-eighth Cameron Munster, Ponga put in a man-of-the-match display in Game 3, the decider of the 2022 State of Origin story. Ponga ran 299 running metres, 90 of which were kick returns and 75 in post-contact, as well as 3 line breaks, 18 tackle breaks, and a play that claimed the lead, which Queensland would not lose for the remainder of the game. Ponga was banned from the remainder of the 2022 NRL season after suffering from concussion in July. After being found inebriated in a toilet cubicle by security staff, Ponga and teammate Kurt Mann had been banned from a pub on August 15th. The NRL later drug tested Ponga and Mann as part of the organization's drug policy.