Ponga the best young tallent for me: Fittler

RUGBY LEAGUE: NSW coach Brad Fittler has made the stunning claim Kalyn Ponga is the best young talent he has ever seen as Maroons champion Billy Slater declared the whiz-kid will be a 10-year Origin player.

Ponga was a golden ray of hope amid the pain of Queensland’s series-losing 18-14 defeat, producing a remarkably cool-headed debut at age 20 in an Origin II thriller at ANZ Stadium.

The highlight came in the 69th minute, when Ponga speared through the NSW defence, only to be grounded by James Tedesco one metre short in a trysaver that effectively crushed the Maroons’ dynasty.

But Ponga’s performance was so emphatic even Fittler, the rival coach who attempted to plot the rookie’s downfall, was left in awe.

“Kalyn is the best young talent I’ve seen,” said Fittler, who was just 18 when he made his NSW Origin debut in 1990.

Asked if he was genuinely serious about his assessment given the code’s bevy of champions, Fittler said: “For what he has done this year, yep, without a doubt.

“To see what Kalyn Ponga did in that game ... unbelieveable.

“I can’t believe how well he played. I can’t even believe we f***ing tackled him (as Ponga pinned his ears back for the NSW tryline). I honestly thought ‘how on earth are we going to stop him with all that grass and open space?’

“I don’t know how Tedesco stopped him. I thought he would score for sure ... Queensland have one special player.”

Underlining his composure, Ponga was pitchforked into a largely defensive position on the fringes, but put his 92kg frame on the line, making 26 tackles in a nerveless 51-minute debut.

Ponga has played just 24 NRL games and Fittler believes the only impediment in his surge to greatness is whether the hype and fame goes to his head.

“It’s his first proper year in first grade, and no one has been as dominant as him,” he said.

“But he now has to deal with all the stuff around that.”