‘Anything else isn’t success’: Ponga turns down Kangaroos to go all-in on Knights title hopes

Kalyn Ponga has ruled himself out of Australian Kangaroos eligibility for 2024 and will instead focus entirely on preparing for the 2025 NRL campaign and winning a premiership with the Newcastle Knights.

The shock selection withdrawal comes after Ponga battled injury issues throughout the most recent NRL season and missed several key Knights games early on in the year.

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The 26-year-old believes an uninterrupted preseason will be the best platform for he and the Knights to challenge for his ultimate goal: Lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy on grand final day. This decision to turn down the Kangaroos means he definitely won’t play in the Pacific Championships through October and early November.

“I want to win a comp, for me anything short of that, isn’t success,” Ponga said.

“My focus has never shifted from wanting to win a premiership with the Knights, that has been my goal since I joined the club in 2018 and continues to be my focus.”

The closest Newcastle’s come since Ponga took up a rich NRL deal to move south from North Queensland and don the red and blue was last year, when the Queenslander returned from injury and led his team on a 10-game winning streak all the way into the second week of finals before they were blocked by the Warriors.

Beyond that, however, Adam O’Brien’s team (and Nathan Brown’s before that when Ponga first signed up) have never truly staged a strong run at the premiership; a sobering record Ponga isn’t happy to have been part of over the last seven years.

The Knights fullback added he’d been thinking about what his career means—and decided a title would best cement his legacy. “When I’m done, I want to look back at my career with a positive reflection, including people saying he was a great signing and represented our community to the best of his ability. For now, I don’t feel like I have earnt that yet.

“That’s why I have made this decision and will work hard every day to chase those goals.”

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The Knights will report back to Newcastle later this year after the squad enjoys their offseason. The team’s next tilt at the NRL title will then begin in March, with fixtures to be unveiled in October.