‘Not happening’: Kalyn Ponga shoots down claims he’s plotting Knights escape

Kalyn Ponga has poured cold water on the recent NRL rumours claiming he’s edging for a shock Knights exit, declaring he “wants to win a comp” in the Hunter before moving on.

Just last week, the Knights were dealt a major blow; Newy’s Mr. fix-it Connor Watson revealed he’d taken up a short-changed two-year offer with the Roosters.

The move sparked another set of questions too ⁠— what would the swap mean for Kalyn Ponga, who had become fast friends with the Dubbo star since Watson first handed in his tricolours for the red and blue of Newcastle back in early 2018.

There were suggestions Ponga would follow him.

Reports within the media also claimed the Knight talismanic fullback was eyeing a momentous move in the other direction, towards Brisbane and the desperate Broncos. Then there were the usual rugby union claims, swaddled in contract leaks.

All of that is false, Ponga has said. He will be staying put in Newcastle for at least the foreseeable future, and still dreams of “winning the comp” for the Knights.

“That’s definitely not happening,” he said of a possible 2022 move.

“The smoke’s cleared now [from Watson’s announcement], and I’m happy for him, but the journey and dream that I’m on stays the same. For us, right now, that’s the finals. There’s still a few games left, so that dream [to win with Watson] is still there… we’re coming to work every day and working extra hard for it.

“[Either way], the dream of winning a comp here [in Newcastle] is still alive for me. I’ve still got that same dream I had, and that’s what I want. I’ll let [Watson] go his own way down there, but I know that I want to win a comp right here.

“We won’t be doing this together… well, we can still win this year, together. But onwards, beyond that, it’s still very much my dream to win the NRL comp here.”

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Kalyn Ponga’s claims will be music to every Novocastrian’s ears, especially when you consider the past decade has been relatively barren for the footy-mad Hunter region ⁠— just thrice in the past ten years have they made the finals. They’ve had as many wooden spoons.

This NRL season, however, they’re right in pole position. And, they finally have their playmaking quartet (Ponga, Mitchell Pearce, Jake Clifford, and Jayden Brailey) all fit and firing after a year of stop-start lineups thanks to injuries, suspensions, and mid-year transfers. They currently sit in seventh with a two-point buffer, with two weeks to go.

In the last fortnight of the season, the Knights will play the Titans (this Thursday evening) and the Broncos in Round 25. Top Sport has them at $1.01 to play finals this year.

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