Kalyn Ponga discussion

frankLauda said:
Be good if Kalyan could defend in the halves. Could he be a 7? I guess the closet to compare is Jahrome Hugh’s.
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SharpeGreatness said:
People have to stop with this KP to the halves stuff, it doesn’t work and will never work.
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I have to disagree.

The first time it didn't work because he wasn't ready. The second time it didn't work, arguably because Tex Hoy was a disaster at FB.

And this is 7, not 6, so he'll get more touches; he's older and more experienced. He essentially plays 7 at times anyway, and who better to get the most touches in the game than your best player? Especially with the threat now also coming from Fletcher Sharpe roaming and a rampaging Lucas (and Best) on the left edge as opposed to last time that Ponga moved to the halves, when there wasn't much threat besides him.

Look, Obi doesn't like taking risks, so it probably doesn't happen, and even if it does, it may not work; it is a risk, but on the scale of where our season is at and with Brown coming next year, it's hardly a huge risk. A blanket "will never work"/"move on" doesn't cut it.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Then why is Fletcher Sharpe, 21, never been in any club's pathways besides Newcastle, better at playing fullback? Is that in spite of the terrible coaching at the Knights, whereas Kalyn's every issue is because of it?

People will say this claim an overreaction to a small sample size or whatever, but I stand by it. The issue with Kalyn is that simple. There are huge holes in his positional play as a fullback which Fletcher, despite being an inferior ball player, does not have. There are flow on effects to this which impact every other player.
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I will just say if AOB was a decent coach the issues with integrating Kalyn into the team would have been resolved and Sharpe had developed his game at fullback before he came into first grade.
 
I think some of the takes about KP are becoming a bit over the top. If we had a better roster, they’d ask him to do less playmaking and play as a purer fullback. We don’t so they ask him to play make a bit more. He’s definitely out of form this year no question but from 2018 to now he has easily been our best player and daylight is second.
 
Seano said:
And this is 7, not 6, so he'll get more touches; he's older and more experienced. He essentially plays 7 at times anyway, and who better to get the most touches in the game than your best player? Especially with the threat now also coming from Fletcher Sharpe roaming and a rampaging Lucas (and Best) on the left edge as opposed to last time that Ponga moved to the halves, when there wasn't much threat besides him.
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Really, really badly. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people talk about it at this stage. If they bit the bullet and put him at halfback right now, leaving aside the defence, he would be the worst starting halfback in the NRL. He’s awful at it.
 
Lefty said:
I will just say if AOB was a decent coach the issues with integrating Kalyn into the team would have been resolved and Sharpe had developed his game at fullback before he came into first grade.
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I don't accept that, at this point. Too many of the decisions we've made since Kalyn got to the club have been specifically made with appeasing him in mind, for us to just say "coach's fault". And no other player on his kind of salary, with his standing in the game, gets that kind of kid gloves treatment. We've looked more unified & more cohesive without him too often to ignore now.

The frustrating thing is that this "fullback as dominant playmaker" thing can work, if the fullback is a good enough footy player. Keep a close eye on Scott Drinkwater the next time the Cowboys play. Tell me he's not basically their halfback after that.
 
waynesworld said:
I think some of the takes about KP are becoming a bit over the top. If we had a better roster, they’d ask him to do less playmaking and play as a purer fullback. We don’t so they ask him to play make a bit more. He’s definitely out of form this year no question but from 2018 to now he has easily been our best player and daylight is second.
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I am watching closely to see how he plays in SOO on Wednesday night.
If he plays his typical fullback role and does it well, that will be a lesson for Obi to just let him play fullback and not this current hybrid role which is failing.
 
Kalyn..your not needed anymore sort your future out ...BUT it's not in Newcastle. The team functioned and worked as

team on the weekend....Not standing around waiting for K P to do the 2/10 stuff, differently not a captain..follow me...NOT.
 

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Defence wins games said:
I am watching closely to see how he plays in SOO on Wednesday night.
If he plays his typical fullback role and does it well, that will be a lesson for Obi to just let him play fullback and not this current hybrid role which is failing.
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Yeah I’m really looking forward to seeing how it works. He hasn’t played fullback in Origin since his match-winning performance in game three, 2022, so it feels like a long time since we’ve seen it.
 
Seano said:
I have to disagree.

The first time it didn't work because he wasn't ready. The second time it didn't work, arguably because Tex Hoy was a disaster at FB.

And this is 7, not 6, so he'll get more touches; he's older and more experienced. He essentially plays 7 at times anyway, and who better to get the most touches in the game than your best player? Especially with the threat now also coming from Fletcher Sharpe roaming and a rampaging Lucas (and Best) on the left edge as opposed to last time that Ponga moved to the halves, when there wasn't much threat besides him.

Look, Obi doesn't like taking risks, so it probably doesn't happen, and even if it does, it may not work; it is a risk, but on the scale of where our season is at and with Brown coming next year, it's hardly a huge risk. A blanket "will never work"/"move on" doesn't cut it.
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We have watched him "try" to be first receiver and on the ball more and seriously he ****ing sucks at it. Ponga is more effective when he is playing a traditional fullback role. So if he can't do that for the team he needs to go. We can't be waiting for him to come good coz let's face it he never will.
 
danknights said:
We have watched him "try" to be first receiver and on the ball more and seriously he ****ing sucks at it. Ponga is more effective when he is playing a traditional fullback role. So if he can't do that for the team he needs to go. We can't be waiting for him to come good coz let's face it he never will.
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Completely agree. We get full back things out of Sharpe and we will get five eighth things out of Brown. We need someone to do half back things and that’s not KP.
 
Queensland have Ponga on limited training because of a quad strain and an ankle injury.

We are never told about ongoing injuries, but I think it's very clear Ponga has been carrying that ankle injury since round 2.
Article in the Herald yesterday said Ponga would have played for the Knights against Penrith despite the injury and will be named today - implying that, if Qld won't play him, we will.
In short - he's half fit.
 
Billy said:
Queensland have Ponga on limited training because of a quad strain and an ankle injury.

We are never told about ongoing injuries, but I think it's very clear Ponga has been carrying that ankle injury since round 2.
Article in the Herald yesterday said Ponga would have played for the Knights against Penrith despite the injury and will be named today - implying that, if Qld won't play him, we will.
In short - he's half fit.
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Crazy considering before they season they were saying how it's the first time in years he's been fully fit coming into the season. Since then - rib cartilage, quad, ankle ...
 
Billy said:
Queensland have Ponga on limited training because of a quad strain and an ankle injury.

We are never told about ongoing injuries, but I think it's very clear Ponga has been carrying that ankle injury since round 2.
Article in the Herald yesterday said Ponga would have played for the Knights against Penrith despite the injury and will be named today - implying that, if Qld won't play him, we will.
In short - he's half fit.
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QLD will be playing Ponga.

Naturally we’re always going to name him before hand to give us the option if he’s fit and firing and ready to go, but that doesn’t mean he plays Friday and I doubt he will.

Most SOO players do say though it’s often easier to back up on the Friday than later in the weekend when more of the bumps and bruises have had a chance to peak.
 
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