Knights wary of interest in Ponga

THE Newcastle Knights have fired a warning shot at the new Brisbane NRL franchise, adamant superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga is going nowhere.

This comes amid fresh talk that Ponga’s potential switch into the halves might need to be fast tracked if Mitchell Pearce ends up heading off to the Super League next season.

Given Ponga is the current Queensland fullback, it is understandable that the 23year-old has been mentioned as a potential target for the new team that will be coached by Wayne Bennett.

Ponga still has three years to run on his existing $1m-aseason contract, but his current deal does include a player option for 2023 and 2024 that allows Ponga to talk to rivals come November 1.

Newcastle head of recruitment Clint Zammit didn’t want to go into specific details of Ponga’s contract situation other than to say “it is technical”.

But he did concede there was a clause that gave Ponga (pictured) the option of negotiating.

“I am not worried at all”, Zammit said when quizzed about a player option in Ponga’s contract.

“Obviously everyone will speculate now with Redcliffe coming in that they are going to target him.

“But I speak to Andre (Ponga’s father) every couple of days. He has never once said that. Every conversation we have had with Kalyn and Andre has been positive and I see no reason why he would leave.”

Meanwhile, Zammit also believes the long-term challenge of moving from fullback to five-eighth might be an added motivation that keeps Ponga at the club for years to come.

“I think in time we want to progress him to six,” Zammit said.

Talk of a potential positional switch comes as Pearce’s future at the Knights remains a source of conjecture.