O’Davis keen to see Ponga lift Knights
NRL: Kalyn Ponga is not just going to draw crowds to Newcastle next season, he is drawing legends of the game back too.
Toowoomba talent Robbie O’Davis is arguably the best fullback the Knights have ever seen, and after years away from the club he is returning to mentor a 19-year-old rising star.
O’Davis was a key part of the Knights’ 1997 grand final win, scoring two tries and winning the Clive Churchill Medal.
He said every 10 years the club voted the best player in a position and he won best fullback for decades.
But with a new Knight joining Newcastle next season, O’Davis is hopeful he will be knocked off his perch.
“I want to be sitting here in 10-years time and hear Kalyn Ponga be named (best fullback of the decade for the club),” O’Davis said.
“I don’t have anything to do with the club but I just want to work with him (Ponga) because he’s such a good kid.”
Ponga and O’Davis come from a touch football background.
The Toowoomba champion was Australian touch captain for three years and Ponga made many representative teams while playing with the Mackay Touch Association.
O’Davis played eight Tests for Australia, 12 State of Origins for Queensland and was a Knights stalwart, finishing his career with 223 games, 73 tries and playing in two grand finals in 1997 and 2001.