Kalyn Ponga discussion

Was quite funny hearing the qld spine be described as disjointed by commentary, a good way to describe our spine all bar last week.
I dont know though i thought kp was ok and still looked the most likely for them to create something. Its very frustrating though watching him surrender so quickly at contact every time because he really is a powerful ball runner at his best.
 
jamesgould said:
I'm beginning to think maybe Ponga is done.

Look at last night, it's representative of his season. He just stands camped out there on the left, waiting to get the ball at second or third receiver, does a little jink which a blind man with mediocre braille skills could read, and then passes.

When he was at his best he was an electric ball runner. He used to pop up in other parts of the field. He actually wanted his hands on the ball.

Maybe Ponga is just reaching the end ... he looks lethargic and out of ideas.
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100% I thought the same thing. He's changed his game to try and be a half. He's not that good at it. It neutralizes all the stuff he is amazing at. If he kicks on the last play, we then don't have a fullback racing through for example.
I think this actually is a Ponga thing, not a coach thing after last night's game. Someone needs to tell him 'no'.
 
Ponga did plenty of aimless walking around as the ball moved near him, or away from him. Hiding around the ruck.

When he got the ball there was no room to move so wrapped up immediately.

He strikes me as a player that if the team isn't providing him the space a good ball opportunities, he isn't going to either.

Captain material.
 
I think Ponga needs decide what position he’s playing. Is it fullback, half back or 5/8. No more of this hybrid role he’s developed this year.

We know our halves aren’t great, but they proved over the weekend that if their allowed to play their games, we can be somewhat competent

Ponga needs to start watching football to learn fullback and the nuances of the game, how to play off the back foot, how to position himself etc

He’s obviously extremely talented, but talent only gets you so far.
 
There was one opportunity when To'o was in the bin that he created an overlap on the left and QLD should have scored, but he passed too early instead of engaging the centre and NSW slid easily. That should be his bread and butter and didn't get it right
 
slotmachine said:
There was one opportunity when To'o was in the bin that he created an overlap on the left and QLD should have scored, but he passed too early instead of engaging the centre and NSW slid easily. That should be his bread and butter and didn't get it right
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He’s done that quite a bit this season, not fully engaging the line. Makes it even worse for us with Sharpe at 6, as he does the exact same thing almost every time. Big reason why our lord edges have struggled for space. Gamble was great week at playing square, and engaging the line before passing.
 
He seems to have lost a yard of pace hardly ever beats defender on the outside anymore and really doesn’t like contact whether that’s down to rib injury or whatever
 
jamesgould said:
I'm beginning to think maybe Ponga is done.

Look at last night, it's representative of his season. He just stands camped out there on the left, waiting to get the ball at second or third receiver, does a little jink which a blind man with mediocre braille skills could read, and then passes.

When he was at his best he was an electric ball runner. He used to pop up in other parts of the field. He actually wanted his hands on the ball.

Maybe Ponga is just reaching the end ... he looks lethargic and out of ideas.
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I’ve been thinking the same thing (but didn’t want to say it).

You tend to find with players who peak early and have outrageous physical skills that they get to their mid/late 20s and the zip has gone. Because they have always been able to rely on their natural physical ability they don’t have the game intelligence to develop their style of play to suit the new reality.

Michael Owen would be the classic example of this from football and I’m sure there are plenty of others.

I genuinely hope I’m wrong and this is just a blip or an injury related issue that he will recover from but I’m not too sure it is.
 
Thieves Like Us said:
I’ve been thinking the same thing (but didn’t want to say it).

You tend to find with players who peak early and have outrageous physical skills that they get to their mid/late 20s and the zip has gone. Because they have always been able to rely on their natural physical ability they don’t have the game intelligence to develop their style of play to suit the new reality.

Michael Owen would be the classic example of this from football and I’m sure there are plenty of others.

I genuinely hope I’m wrong and this is just a blip or an injury related issue that he will recover from but I’m not too sure it is.
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Anthony Milford the best example of that in recent NRL history.

Shaun Johnson adapted to losing a lot of his natural tools as well as any player I can remember so it can be done, but it’s not easy.
 
It could just be he is having a bad year and is low on confidence, he has shown glimpses off what he can but he is just second guessing things right now.
I wouldn't count out this freak of athlete to turn it around and start performing well and if he can string some good games together at club land I bet he will be better for it
 
Ponga was averaging over 70 fantasy points a game for the first 2 rounds.
He's been averaging just over 20 a game since.

It's very clear to me that he's playing through an injury - probably the ankle the Qld trainers were worried about.
 
Billy said:
Ponga was averaging over 70 fantasy points a game for the first 2 rounds.
He's been averaging just over 20 a game since.

It's very clear to me that he's playing through an injury - probably the ankle the Qld trainers were worried about.
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I hope you are right Billy, I really do!

If that is the case though my focus shifts to the coaching team and why they are rolling him out every week and not giving him 3-4 weeks rehab to recover. It’s the same as when he first did his Lisfranc last season. The guy could barely walk yet they kept him out there hoping for some Ponga magic.
 
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