How Slater’s ‘gold’ helps Ponga go to another level
Joel Gould |
Kalyn Ponga is determined to fire and hang on to the No.1 jersey for Queensland, and tutorials with Billy Slater are his secret weapon.
The 27-year-old will start at fullback for the first time since the State of Origin decider in 2022 when he was man of the match.
Ponga did not join the Maroons team at the start of training on Wednesday afternoon, which was only open for 10 minutes to media.
He was in sandshoes and standing away from the main group. Ponga pointed at a quad when speaking with teammate Lindsay Collins before the group trained.
An injury to incumbent Maroons custodian Reece Walsh opened the door for Newcastle skipper Ponga to return to the position he has made his own in club football.
Slater was fullback when Ponga made his Maroons debut off the bench in 2018. The Maroons coach always finds a way to get the best out of Ponga.
“It’s his attention to detail on both sides of the footy, but also the confidence he instils in his players,” Ponga said.
“He has given me some things when I first came into camp that I didn’t think about from a technical point of view, but then also the confidence he instils in you as a player, and that’s what you want from a coach.
“Every time I come into this camp and come out of it, I come out of these camps a better player, not only through Bill and his coaching but the environment in general.
“For that reason, I’m excited to come in here and try and take some pieces of gold back with me and learn as much as I can in this camp.”
Ponga does not want his appearance at Suncorp Stadium on May 28 in the series opener to be a one-off in the No.1.
“I’m definitely keen to keep it. I want to do my job and put together some performances I’m proud of, for sure,” he said.
“You have to earn this jersey, and that’s what I’ll be doing for sure.”
Ponga has not been entirely happy with his club form for the struggling Knights this year and wasn’t convinced he would be selected. Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who will play centre for the Maroons, was an option for Slater.
“I was a bit nervous to be honest,” Ponga said.
“I didn’t assume I would be in there. You never really know. You have to earn the jersey, and I was definitely happy with the call I got and happy to be in camp.”
Ponga would have been the Maroons fullback in 2023, but was rocked by serious concussion. Once recovered he focused on getting back to his best with club side Newcastle and sat out the series.
“Footy was pretty far away at one point. During that period, I was pretty grateful just to be playing footy and be back,” Ponga said.
“Queensland won that series, Reece played well and I was just happy. I was sitting there as a fan, so that was awesome, but at the same time I was envious and wanted to be out there.
“But we all support each other in this team. I am definitely happy to be back. Hopefully those worries are behind me in terms of the concussion stuff.”
AAP
