Official: Knights sign Kalyn Ponga on a 4 year deal

L

Lockwire211

Nathan Ross
Ponga asking for a $2 million contract - reports


By Michael Di Lonardo
Published on Nov. 4, 2016


Reports suggest Ponga's management is after a three to four year contract worth over $2 million.

It's a hefty price tag considering the teen prodigy only has two NRL games under his belt.

''I think he can be...an immortal,'' Ponga's manager Wayde Rushton told Channel Seven.

The 18-year-old wants to have a deal sorted by the end of the year.

''I think I want to find my feet first, once I do that I'll see where the journey takes me,'' he said.

''It's better to get the dealings under the way, then I can just focus on my footy without it clouding over me''

Parramatta and St George Illawarra are the Cowboys' biggest threats and are prepared to offer the youngster a full-time position at fullback.

The Cowboys are unable to fulfill Ponga's desire to wear the number one jersey after extending Lachlan Coote's contract earleir this year.


http://www.sportingnews.com/au/league/news/kalyn-ponga-cowboys-contract-nrl-north-queensland-2-million-cowboys-rugby-league/rq37b29e5crt12g6m9h3q8pn4


I hope we are in the running for him and put in a pretty attractive offer.

He'd be a shoe in for our fullback spot and having someone like him might entice some bigger named players to come play with us too.Surely Parramatta saying they're interested is just a beat up, they've got Bevan French lined up as the future fullback. Plus how could they afford him.

I wouldn't have thought that the dragons could afford him either.What would everyone be willing to lash out for him? I'd be happy with 600K for 3 years with an option for a fourth. It's a big spend for someone unproven (yet) but definitely worth the gamble.

 
Bloody hell managers can be ****wits sometimes, seriously saying his client could be a future immortal.
 
I would love to have him here but $500,000 a year on a long contract is what we did with Uate and he went to pieces almost instantly and hardly ever played up to his standard again . This Kid is good but he is still a kid we need to sign a f/b as we haven't got one in the team as yet but that's a lot of money for an 18 yr old ...
 
Sounds similar to joel edwards being future rep player for many years and look how that turned out. Pass for me. Until he proves himself.
 
However good he looks, he is a small 18 year old.
Kevin Locke looked like he could be anything at the same age, and in the end he wasn't even robust enough to last long in the ESL.
I'd love to get him, but not for rep player money for an 18 year old who might last as long as it takes for someone like Klemmer to get hold of them.
 
Billy said:
However good he looks, he is a small 18 year old.
Kevin Locke looked like he could be anything at the same age, and in the end he wasn't even robust enough to last long in the ESL.
I'd love to get him, but not for rep player money for an 18 year old who might last as long as it takes for someone like Klemmer to get hold of them.
Click to expand...

Last time i heard from Kevin Locke, he was training with Manly?
 
Billy said:
However good he looks, he is a small 18 year old.
Kevin Locke looked like he could be anything at the same age, and in the end he wasn't even robust enough to last long in the ESL.
I'd love to get him, but not for rep player money for an 18 year old who might last as long as it takes for someone like Klemmer to get hold of them.
Click to expand...

The reason why Locke didn't last long in the super league was his behaviour off the field. Plus he crashed Brian smiths car while blind drunk
 
The thing is we aren't going to get a rep standard player who will want to play for us.
Yes he is a bit on the lighter side (82kg according to wiki) but he is still only 18. Give him a year or two and the preseasons aswell and he'd be upto to around the average fullback weight.
Don't forget the salary cap is meant to go up, so 500-600 a year for someone like that might be a bargin in the end.
The difference between someone like ponga vs uate is that this kid looks so driven and is a natural athlete. Uate was purely in it for the $$$$$.
 
danknights said:
Sounds similar to joel edwards being future rep player for many years and look how that turned out. Pass for me. Until he proves himself.
Click to expand...
The difference between Ponga and Edwards is that everyone who is anyone in league is saying this kid will be a super star ....no one but his manager said it about Edwards .

- - - Updated - - -


Thing with Ponga is if he does become the player everyone thinks he will be his price after the first or second year will be a lot more Than what he is wanting now ...If we sign him for 4 years at $500,000 that could make him cheap for the last 2 years of his contract ....Its a gamble but most players don't want to come here so we may have to take a few gambles
 
I'd take the gamble. As has been said, the cap is going up & everything is pointing to him being a superstar. 500k would be heaps cheap for him a few years down the track if he keeps rising. What superstars are we going to be to attract here for market worth? None. So if we can offer a 500k contract to Ponga with the fullback position his, not many other clubs would be willing to match it at this stage of his career, so we're in with a chance. We need to take a few gambles because simply signing nobodys & hoping that they make us a top 8 team so we can attract bigger names is just not going to happen.
 
Joshhh said:
Bloody hell managers can be ****wits sometimes, seriously saying his client could be a future immortal.
Click to expand...

Yeah nah. Lol. That is all.

- - - Updated - - -

Ethan said:
The difference between Ponga and Edwards is that everyone who is anyone in league is saying this kid will be a super star ....no one but his manager said it about Edwards .

- - - Updated - - -


Thing with Ponga is if he does become the player everyone thinks he will be his price after the first or second year will be a lot more Than what he is wanting now ...If we sign him for 4 years at $500,000 that could make him cheap for the last 2 years of his contract ....Its a gamble but most players don't want to come here so we may have to take a few gambles
Click to expand...

Cool story even if we get him to sign he goes good and has June to back out of the deal. Or does nothing and we are laughing stock for paying overs for a Nathan Ross Mark 2.
 
The reason Ponga is so skinny is because he hasn't done a pre season the last 2 years. Was in hospital in a life threatening situation and still carved up 20's later that season as 17 year old.

He is actually a lot stronger than his body looks. Will be breaking a lot of tackles when he adds some more lean muscle to go along with his footwork.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top