PONGA’S EXIT ALLOWED NQ TO PRESS RESET BUTTON
KALYN Ponga’s decision to quit the Cowboys has enabled North Queensland to assemble an NRL title-contending roster with the hottest young players in the game.
Ponga will come up against the club that blooded him in the NRL when his struggling Knights take on the Cowboys at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
If the Cowboys had it their way, Ponga would be wearing North Queensland’s No. 1 jersey instead of starting at fullback for last-placed Newcastle.
But his decision to quit the
Cowboys and join the Knights in 2018 was a sliding doors moment that triggered a reset in Townsville.
After four tough seasons, the Cowboys are now in the NRL’S top four and the competition’s most improved team of 2022. And a lot of that has to do with the roster they have been able to compile without having Ponga on their books.
The Knights poached Ponga on a huge $3m deal and he last month inked a $6m contract to remain at Newcastle for the next five years, becoming one of the NRL’S highest-paid players. It was a tough pill to swallow for the Cowboys at the time.
“Kalyn was the talented kid that, as a scout, you walk into a ground hoping to find,” said former Cowboys recruitment chief Clint Zammit, now at Newcastle. “Initially, I signed Kalyn as a player manager, then I left that industry and moved into a recruitment role with the Cowboys 18 months later. Straight away I wanted to get Kalyn to the club. I knew he could be a long-term fullback at the Cowboys.
“I was still at the Cowboys when he left. I don’t want to say much about why he left, but it was very hard when he left. I was pretty gutted because I had built a bond with Kalyn and his family, so it’s quite surreal to be back with him at the Knights.”
The Cowboys had budgeted big money to keep Ponga, so his decision to walk after the 2017 season freed up significant funds in North Queensland’s salary cap.
Stars Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo secured long-term deals while the Cowboys brought Valentine Holmes back from the NFL.
But it is the club’s investment in junior development that is now starting to reap rewards and the Cowboys are doing well to keep their top talent in Townsville.
Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki are the hottest young backrowers in the NRL while the Cowboys are oozing with backline talent in Hamiso Tabuai-fidow, Murray Taulagi and Tom Dearden. Young forwards Reuben Cotter, Tom Gilbert and Griffin Neame have improved dramatically to give the club a perfect balance between youth and experience.
Zammit, who personally spotted 10 of the 17 Cowboys playing tonight, said it was an exciting time for the club.
“Even though I’m now at Newcastle, it’s been pretty satisfying to see so many of them come through to do well at the Cowboys,” he said. “I knew this was a special group. When I was there, internally we believed we had a special generation coming through.
“I’m really proud to see them kick on and it’s not just me, the Cowboys as a club do great work with their development. I may have spotted them, but the coaches and development guys like Glenn Hall and Ben Jeffries deserve credit for bringing them all through.”