Ponga: snubbing Kiwis wasn’t hard

NRL prodigy Kalyn Ponga reckons the decision to turn his back on his father’s homeland New Zealand and pledge his allegiance to Queensland was not difficult.

Ponga admitted he had to seek his family’s acceptance before making the call but claimed he was never under any pressure from home to don the Kiwis jersey.

The 19-year-old had no complaints about his decision after being included in an 11-strong Emerging Maroons squad training on the Gold Coast this weekend, Queensland’s stepping stone to State of Origin.

But not so long ago it seemed Ponga was torn over his representative future. He avoided making a representative call altogether in 2016 when he opted not to play rep footy after being eligible for both the Junior Kiwis and Junior Kangaroos.

And in October, Ponga was picked for the Maori side to take on NZ Residents in Auckland, only to be reduced to waterboy duties because of a shoulder complaint.

But Ponga said it was not difficult breaking the news about his rep footy future to his New Zealandborn dad Andre.

‘‘I didn’t find it tough but I had to get their [family’s] acceptance,’’ said Ponga, who was born in Western Australia but spent five years in New Zealand from the age of eight.

‘‘I was born here, went to school here. To be honest it wasn’t that tough pledging my allegiance to Queensland and Australia.

‘‘People put pressure on me to make a decision when I had no reason to [in the past].

‘‘[But] it was an exciting moment for me to tell [Queensland coach] Kevvie [Walters], knowing I had the support from my family.’’

Ponga has been earmarked for greatness since 2016, when he became just the sixth player to make his NRL debut in the finals when plucked from obscurity as a 17-year-old by North Queensland coach Paul Green.

And he had played just two NRL games for the Cowboys when he signed a four-year, A$3 million (NZ$3.3 million) Newcastle deal from 2018.

Ponga now has a golden chance to earn an Origin debut after Emerging Maroons honours.

Eight players last year alone graduated from Emerging Maroons to make their Queensland debut.

But Ponga wasn’t getting ahead of himself.

‘‘I wouldn’t say I am on the verge of Origin selection – there is still a lot of hard work ahead,’’ said Ponga, who has played a total of nine NRL games.

- AAP

To be honest it wasn’t that tough pledging my allegiance to Queensland and Australia. Kalyn Pongia